Love, Lucy, and Light
by LyraKatori
Summary: Lucy and Natsu have been dating for almost 13 months, but the guild has been almost silent towards Lucy because they know he's cheating on her with Lisanna. When she sees him kissing her, as well as speaking of kicking Lucy off the team, she goes home to cry. What will happen when Lucy wins a trip to a new resort in Fiore, learns new magic, and joins a new guild? StiCy or NaLu?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Blindsided and Betrayed<strong>

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><p>Lucy had arrived at the Fairy Tail guild this morning to meet up with her boyfriend Natsu for a job that she would go on with him and Happy, but she looked a bit surprised to see that the fire dragon slayer and the cute blue Exceed were nowhere to be found. It was not like them to miss the daily task of going on exciting jobs, having fun new adventures that might end in disaster, and Lucy Heartfilia was really surprised to see that her friends were not in the guild right now. Things were really quiet on this sunny morning with a clear blue sky, but perhaps things were a little too quiet.<p>

As the blonde mage began to walk into the guild, after having looked around the guildhall with her cocoa brown eyes while she had been standing in the doorway, the various conversations between many of the mages had abruptly come to halt when their eyes took notice of Lucy. Some people even looked a bit shocked to see her here, but the expressions on their faces did not show that it was a bad kind of shock. They seemed more surprised in a curious manner to see her still having a soft smile on her face, almost like they knew something that she certainly did not.

She tried her best to maintain the small smile, not wanting to break the awkward silence for any kind of drama to ensue, and Lucy walked over to a table near the bar where her friend Cana had been sitting. The two girls had become great friends, ever since Lucy volunteered to help Cana with the S-Class exam that had taken place on Tenrou Island back in X784, and Lucy was hoping that her brown-haired friend would be the one to tell her what the silence was all about. She had always taken a shower every morning, so she couldn't possibly smell bad. Lucy had always dressed in a stylish manner as well, and no one had ever been jealous. What was going on?

Even if she and Natsu had met up at the guild today, the quietness of the other people in the guild would still ensue while the pink-haired dragon slayer would laugh happily as he went on a job with Lucy. The eerie silence had been going on for twelve months now, and let's just say that Natsu admitted something to the guild twelve months prior to the start of the silence. He had admitted this little secret to the guild when Lucy had been too sick with a cold to go out on a job one day, and this was a pretty big secret that the guild was keeping from her. It hadn't really been that big of a deal to people, until Natsu actually started dating someone else while he had been dating Lucy for 13 months as well.

See, after the Grand Magic Games of X791 had ended with Fairy Tail winning, Lisanna Strauss had come clean with her feelings about Natsu. She had really liked the way that he was always so strong, never wanting to give up in tough situations, and the white-haired mage had found herself attracted to his goofy grin. Natsu's dense but fiery personality had been something that made Lisanna love him, and he had always loved how good she looked in swimsuits. Natsu had also loved how kind and gentle Lisanna had acted, even being caring enough to soothe ferocious animals. He was on a job with her right now, but could he possibly show up right now for Lucy to see that?

Lucy had also loved how Natsu could be so fierce and determined at times, and the blonde mage had always found herself blushing a light shade of pink when he would rescue her from dangerous monsters or save her from bandits. Natsu and Lucy had even shared wonderful kisses of love when the jobs were done, and they would even sleep in Lucy's bed together on some nights. The fire dragon slayer would keep her warm with the heat from his body, but she also did not know that he had been sleeping with Lisanna as well. He had also been sharing kisses with her after missions, and Natsu had even bought Lisanna gifts while buying nothing for Lucy.

She had always thought that he was too busy spending all of his jewels on food, always using up his cash so fast, but that was definitely not the case. Lucy had been in love with a guy who she thought was the best guy ever, but her assumptions were wrong. She had trusted Natsu enough to never assume that there were any problems that could cause trouble in their relationship, and the possibility of him being a cheater had never even crossed her mind. She loved Natsu with all of her heart, but he had been loving Lisanna more and more with each passing day.

The blonde girl would even wake up to her bed feeling really cold with no warmth, obviously meaning that Natsu had left her apartment, and he had always told her that he goes out for hot coffee from the cafes in Magnolia every morning. The part about the coffee was actually true, but he only used its sugary deliciousness to meet up faster with Lisanna and continue their relationship. When Lucy arrived at the guild every day, Lisanna had pretended to walk out of Fairy Tail's entrance doors to supposedly go out on a job. However, she would simply turn into a bird while Natsu had wanted her to never feel left alone when he was making Lucy happy to give her a false sense of security.

Really, Natsu was a total cheater for doing this. He had told Lisanna to stalk him and Lucy from afar while they were on jobs, and the fire dragon slayer would sometimes go to a different part of town to make out with his blue-eyed girlfriend. He had always loved that calming look of sweetness in Lisanna's eyes, loving how her skin felt so smooth and warm while they would hug, but cheating on Lucy was not the right way to move on to someone else. He had not wanted to tell Lucy about how her performance on missions was nothing compared to how Lisanna was so fast and strong, and Natsu knew that breaking Lucy's heart would just cause total emotional chaos to break loose.

Lucy asked Cana in a calm manner while smiling softly, her ears taking in the fact that people were starting to chat again while discussing topics that were different from the ones that were being talked about before the blonde mage had entered the guild today, "Hi, Cana. Did Natsu show up to the guild today, or do you think that he could be running late? He knows that we do jobs together as a team, right?"

The brown-haired mage replied kindly, putting on a happy smile to not ruin Lucy's seemingly cheery mood while they sat down together at the table, "Natsu hasn't shown up to the guild at all, Lucy. Maybe he's just really busy with some things that he has to take care of, or maybe he's busy fighting off a group of bandits. After all, you know how he loves to fight in exciting battles. He could also be trying to find the right present to give you as an added bonus for a trip that's coming up, and you hopefully won't have to see him be having double the excitement if he or a certain someone wins the prize to be at the resort."

Cana quickly covered her own mouth after saying that last part, really hoping that Lucy had no clue about what that meant, but the card mage also could tell that her own purple eyes were showing a look that swayed between shock and guilt. She felt really horrible about not being able to tell her own best friend about how Natsu had been cheating on her with Lisanna, and it was mainly because Lucy was really sensitive with her emotions. Cana did not know how Lucy could ever handle the news of being deceived by the guy who she really loved, and trying to say comforting words after revealing such a big secret would only make things worse.

She could see on the corner of her left eye that Mira also looked nervous about how Cana had nearly let the news slip right out of her mouth, and the white-haired barmaid also knew that Lucy might not take it too well. Even though Mirajane was happy that her younger sister had finally found a boyfriend, she did not exactly expect it to be the guy who had already been dating Lucy. She wanted everyone to be happy, but Natsu was being totally deceitful to Lucy. Besides, it's not like fate was going to let Lucy be in the dark forever.

As she looked down at the cute black top that she was wearing, along with an orange miniskirt, Lucy gasped in shock while realizing that she had left her Celestial Spirit Keys at home by accident. The blonde mage had gone out of her apartment so fast to meet up with Natsu today, clumsily leaving her keys behind, and this would mean that she would now have to run back home to get them. Even though this was a slight setback to Lucy's chance of seeing her pink-haired boyfriend show up at the guild today, it would actually give her some more time for fate to make a way to let her see the truth about Natsu.

With happiness in her cocoa brown eyes, Lucy smiled a bit while telling Cana that she would be back after getting her keys from her apartment. She got up from the table, before proceeding to run out of the guildhall to go back home. As Lucy was about to run down the guild's stairs, however, she found herself suddenly having to jump down into a blueberry bush that was on the left side of the staircase. She wasn't exactly trying to practice her skills in hiding, but she had seen something very strange in that one moment before she decided to hide.

Natsu had been walking up the dirt path towards the guild, laughing happily about something, but Lucy narrowed her brown eyes while she had no interest in what was so funny. She wanted to know why her boyfriend had been holding hands with Lisanna, and she seemed to be blushing happily while he had licked some cake icing off of her cheek. She had rested her head against his left shoulder while they kept getting closer to the Fairy Tail guild, looking like a couple that was happily in love, and Lucy looked miffed at the sight of Natsu tickling Lisanna's rear with his other hand to get her blushing excitedly. He never did that for Lucy, and he certainly wasn't planning to.

Lucy could not believe how they were acting so cute together, but she wasn't paranoid enough to assume right away that there was something going on between Natsu and Lisanna. She needed to gather more information about this matter, and it had to be the correct info. Disinformation was something that had a tendency to be worse than having no information at all, and Lucy was going to find out exactly what was going on. Her smile had turned into a rather stern look, and Lucy's brown eyes had followed the duo while they were now walking up the stairs to the Fairy Tail guild. As they wasted no time entering the building, Lucy was glad that they kept the doors open.

Being around the blueberries had definitely had an effect on Lucy's scent, especially since these were magically-created blueberries that gave off the strong heavenly aroma of blueberry pancakes, and that would surely help her stay hidden from the sensitive nose of Natsu while she would be doing her best to listen in on every single word that would be spoken in the guild. Natsu had to have some reason for coming back to the guild with Lisanna, and Lucy was pretty sure that there was no job simple enough to where cake just needed to be eaten. It was pretty obvious that they had been out somewhere, but Lucy would have to come back later to ask about what they were doing.

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><p><strong>Ten minutes later...<strong>

After retrieving the ten Celestial Spirit Keys from her home, moving quickly to get a chance at seeing what Natsu was doing with Lisanna, Lucy had returned to the guild of Fairy Tail to see that the doors were still open. That was good for Lucy, since they would not creak open loudly to let anyone know that she had come back, and she walked into the guildhall to see that people were now talking to each other. They weren't being so quiet and weird like before, mainly because of the fact that Lisanna had come back to brighten their spirits with her kind personality, but it seemed like Gajeel, Juvia, and Wendy were still out on their jobs.

They were actually the only people who would even see that Lucy existed, since they had joined the guild of Fairy Tail before even knowing about Lisanna, but the blonde mage was now alone while she had to deal with the fact that people would now be ignoring her. They would always ask Lisanna for opinions on various things, not even caring that Lucy would be the nearest person in the room, and the blonde girl hid behind a nearby table quickly as she saw Mira turn her head towards the entrance doors of this rowdy little guild. After all, having Mira announce that Lucy was back would just cause a few lies to hastily be made.

Her eyes slowly looked up from the chair to see the sight of Lisanna sitting next to Natsu at the bar, giggling with joy as she loved what he was telling her, and Lucy's brown eyes widened in shock from seeing that there was only one large cup of hot chocolate on the counter. It was situated perfectly to be in between them, filled with sugar that was sweet like their personal love, but seeing the fire dragon slayer and his white-haired girlfriend put two straws in that drink had made Lucy feel pretty bitter. Natsu had told her that putting two straws in a drink was something that only they would ever do together, but he was definitely lying.

As Lucy kept watching the happy couple be cheerful, Mira put a large chocolate ice cream cake on a plate for them to share as well. It was made to look like a giant Oreo cookie that had peanut butter ice cream in the middle instead of the typical vanilla flavor, looking so incredibly delicious, and that made Lucy clench her fists in anger. Natsu had said that the only desserts he'd share would always be with her, never going to split the sweetness with anyone else, but that was certainly another lie. He had been lying to Lucy about promises, something that should never be done, and this new relationship of his had really made her feel blindsided.

He had taken a bite of the ice cream cake, using a spoon to feed some of it to Lisanna, and she blushed happily while he fed her like she was his princess. Lucy had never been fed by Natsu before, nor did he gently give her a kiss on the cheek to show her how much he had loved her. Lucy felt totally disgusted from seeing them together, especially since that little kiss on the cheek let her know that he had really been asking for a breakup, but what happened next would surely make Lucy want to scream. Really, she would not even go over there to slam that ice cream in Natsu's face because of what he would say.

"Hey, Lisanna. Not having you on the team just makes me feel down, since you're so strong and smart, and I really think that we would work very well together. You'd be the perfect addition to Team Natsu, and Erza would love having you go out on jobs with us! Even that ice stripper Gray told me that you'd help us keep the team strong, so please join up with us. I'd be so happy to fight by your side, working so very hard to please you, and even your Tigress outfit totally gets me fired up! You can take Lucy's place on the team, and she'll be happy to know that there will be no more missions where she gets kidnapped. I always have to end up saving her, and she's so weak. By the way, I won't tell the others about ousting Lucy at all." Natsu told his new girlfriend in a loving tone, chuckling a bit while giving her his signature grin of confidence.

The blue-eyed girl replied in a sweet manner while she took Natsu's hands in hers, happy to accept his offer, "Of course I'll join your team, Natsu! I'm so glad that you all want to work with me, and I would love to help you all on jobs! Erza and Gray are definitely strong like us, and we'll make the team become even stronger! By the way, I'm sure that Lucy will be very happy to know she's been kicked off the team. When she comes into Fairy Tail, she'll even get to hear the good news about us being a happy couple as well. She can even watch our team set off on the boat to that resort you told me about, since all four of us entered the contest, and Lucy can see us kiss like we always do."

Upon hearing what Natsu and Lisanna had just been talking about, Lucy could only hide behind the table while feeling crushed. Natsu was planning to make Lisanna have a spot on the team while ousting his first girlfriend? On top of that, he had thought that she was weak and bringing the team down? Also, the pink-haired male had the nerve to enter a contest to a resort while he and Lisanna wanted to take that trip together with Erza and Gray? She could not believe that her nakama had not even asked her about coming along, nor did they have the decency to ask her if she wanted to be off the team.

As she looked over the table to see Natsu kissing Lisanna's lips while both mages were blushing with affection, Natsu standing up to now have Lisanna in his arms, tears welled up in Lucy's eyes. She could see why people mostly ignored her, preferring to share their times of joy with Lisanna, and it was all because they loved seeing her be Natsu's girlfriend. They looked like a cute couple that anyone could admire, but Lucy certainly didn't like seeing them together. She felt hurt by the basic fact that her boyfriend had just cheated on her, lied to her, and he thought that she was only bringing the team down.

Lucy had really wanted to reveal herself to Natsu, being angry about the fact that she heard every word that him and Lisanna had just said, but would that really change anything? She quietly wished that the girl in Natsu's arms was her, really wishing that he had not broken their relationship like this, but Natsu cared more for Lisanna. She got out from behind the table to quietly leave the Fairy Tail guild, her cocoa brown eyes letting the tears fall while she wanted to cry far from Natsu, and she ran down the stairs to go home. Lucy was feeling so betrayed right now, and Natsu's actions had definitely not made her feel happy in any way.

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><p><strong>At Lucy's apartment...<strong>

Lucy had ran all the way to her apartment with tears in her eyes, and she angrily opened the door before quickly slamming it shut. She was feeling hurt, angry, confused, jealous, distraught, and Lucy's heart had broken. She was emotionally hurting right now, and Lucy even took a photo of herself and Natsu out of the frame to tear it up into pieces while she screamed in pure anger at the fact that he had kissed another woman while being with her for nearly twelve months. Those were the months where he had been leading Lucy on, only loving her for truly one month, and he had been lying to her while forming chemistry with Lisanna. The guild had lied to her, and all of those people were supposedly her friends.

Her cocoa brown eyes widened in shock upon remembering when Cana had covered her mouth after saying that Natsu would be happy twice on his vacation, and that is what she had meant. He would just leave without Lucy to spare her the times that he would be lying to her, but he would certainly be enjoying his time at the resort with Lisanna. The thought of those two even eating together or cuddling together had made Lucy feel complete sorrow, but she still felt anger at the fact that they would be having such a sweet and happy relationship while she had meant nothing at all to Natsu.

In fact, Natsu and Lisanna had even gotten friendly before Fairy Tail had won the Grand Magic Games. They would always be having discussions about the movies that they liked, the favorite kinds of music that they enjoyed to hear, the video games that they had both enjoyed playing together, and Lucy remembered it all. Natsu and Lisanna had even gone to a bookstore for manga in Crocus one morning, and Lucy could only watch through a glass window while they were drinking lattes as they giggled to each other about certain things. Lucy slammed her fist against the wall of her bedroom for missing so many signs of foreshadowing, and she hated herself for trusting Natsu for so long.

She shouted angrily while throwing a blue vase at the wall, tears continuing to make their way down her face as her body trembled with wavering emotions, "I was so stupid to never notice how he always had to leave me in the mornings, and he always had to leave me after we got jobs done to go somewhere else! I even smelled perfume on him one time, but I mistook it for cologne! How could I be such an idiot to not notice the signs that had been coming my way?! All this time, he had been wanting her! He never wanted me as his girlfriend, and they were probably kissing at the beach! He was always out of money because he always spent it on her, I bet!"

The blonde mage was breathing heavily while her eyes had turned red and puffy from crying so much, and she was really upset about the way that Natsu had cheated on her with a woman who he thought was better than her in every way. What did Lucy ever do to deserve such harshness from her own boyfriend? She had been so nice and caring towards Natsu, and now he had made his choice. The pink-haired male wanted the younger Strauss sister to be his true girlfriend, and he had always been spouting lies to Lucy. If she wasn't needed by him or a bunch of people who chose to keep secrets from her, then why would she need to deal with Natsu's lies anymore?

Heading straight to the kitchen, Lucy had a plan to get her revenge on Natsu. She was going to let him know that his actions had caused bad karma to befall him, and Lucy was also going to disappear from the guild of people who had totally given her the impression that everything was fine in her relationship. She had truly thought that Cana was her best friend who could tell her anything of importance, no matter how big the matter truly was, but Lucy had been wrong. Her poor judgement had now shown its consequences, but she was going to make up for them by showing Natsu that he was about to regret what he had done.

Lucy had been looking at the knives on her kitchen counter for a few minutes now, having the idea that taking her own life would make Natsu and the guild feel incredibly horrible for what they had done to her, but the blonde mage actually began to have a few little thoughts in her mind. What good was it for her to stick around in Fairy Tail, if she was being lied to by her own friends? It would probably do Lucy some good to take a vacation out of Magnolia for a while, not really interested in seeing that jerk Natsu happily cuddle with Lisanna, and maybe she would end up finding the right person to be with. Of course, she would be leaving a note for her cheating boyfriend to find while she would leave overnight.

If he had seen it, he would definitely throw a fit. However, the current situation really did not give him the right to really gripe about anything. He had cheated on Lucy with Lisanna, wanting to be with the girl who had seemed to be much more fun and enjoyable to him, so Lucy was going to leave his life for a while. She was also going to leave the lives of everyone in Fairy Tail for keeping her in the dark about Natsu's new love, and she didn't even want to know if the guild would give a bunch of presents to the happy couple for the possible chance that they'd win that great trip. If Lucy was there to see them off, her only presents would be a kick to the groin for Natsu and a push into the sea for Lisanna. Natsu had been making things hot for Lisanna, but what he had done to Lucy was totally cold.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 1? It's such a shame that "Love Is Like A Treasure" got reported so early on, especially when its wheels were just starting to be in a motion, so I made a remake of it. This story could end in StiCy or NaLu, based on what happens. Anyway.. The more you guys like this story, the more I'll update. That's fair, right? :)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Lucy's Vacation: The Shocking Win<strong>

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><p>After she had seen Natsu and Lisanna kiss right before her eyes on what was supposed to be a pretty great morning, Lucy had spent the entire night packing her suitcase for the journey that she was about to embark on. She was planning to leave Magnolia for the prospect of starting a new life, not wanting to see her cheating boyfriend try and make her happy like he was loyal to her, and Lucy wanted to go far away from him. After all, it would definitely not do her any good to stay in Fairy Tail while people would be trying to hide things from her. Fake friendships certainly were horrible, right?<p>

It would truly be the perfect way to get payback on the people who had the nerve to keep Natsu's affair with Lisanna from reaching the ears of Lucy, and she would definitely not be sad to be leaving them behind. She was still mad at herself for putting so much trust into a guy who she had really liked, only for him to throw it all away because he thought that Lisanna was so much better, and Lucy never wanted to go through that kind of pain ever again. She could even bet that those two were sleeping together right now, happily cuddling together while sharing sweet kisses.

Lucy let out a sad sigh while she stared up at the ceiling, laying in her bed while she wore her cute pink pajamas. She definitely was angry with Natsu, but she was also having doubts about herself as well. If he had also liked Lisanna for being strong, then had Natsu always thought that Lucy was weak? A frown appeared on her face while she also had to wonder if that's what her former friends in the guild had thought as well. Lucy knew very well that she used ten of the Golden Zodiac Gate Keys to be able to get some assistance on jobs, but that did not make her completely weak.

She could only open up two gates at one time, draining most of her magical power and physical strength in the process, and the negative thoughts in her mind were preventing Lucy from going to sleep easily. The blonde mage did not exactly know that anger came with depression sometimes, and she turned on her side to stare out the window at the night sky while wondering about what she could do to improve herself. She did not want to become stronger to impress Natsu, but Lucy wanted to get better to show herself that she could change.

Narrowing her cocoa brown eyes, she kept remembering all of the times that Natsu always had to go somewhere. He was always leaving her in the mornings, or saying that he was going to be busy for a few hours, but he had always been sneaking around behind Lucy's back to be with Lisanna. He had wanted to break up with Lucy, but it wouldn't exactly be a good move for him to say that he was leaving Lucy to be with Lisanna. The celestial wizard felt really idiotic for always believing every single lie that the fire dragon slayer had sent her way, and she knew that the trust between them had now been broken.

As Lucy hated Natsu for deceiving her, she also had to keep thinking about her plan. If she had left without saying a word, that would surely make people get suspicious about her absence in the guild. However, she could always leave a note to someone that she had trusted. The only members who had not been in the guild earlier were Wendy and Carla, most likely having been out on a job at the time, and they also weren't really bent on remembering secrets about a person's love life. Wendy and Carla did not really care for love that much, but they had also stayed neutral to not get on the bad sides of Natsu or Lucy.

While it was good to know that Lucy could still consider those two as her possible friends in Fairy Tail, she also had to wonder if anybody would ever like her later on in the future. Lucy knew that there were decent guys and girls out there, but who was the one for her? She knew that there were many different personalities, since there were many people in Fiore, but what guy would truly be attracted to her? Also, would the person be faithful enough to not cheat or lie like Natsu? Lucy had to think about so many different factors that could affect a relationship, and she groaned in frustration while trying her best to fall asleep.

Her depression had eventually lost out to Lucy's feelings of stress and fatigue, causing the blonde girl to pass out while she laid in her comfy bed, and she began sleeping soundly after a few minutes. While Lucy looked depressed as she slept, she did not even hear the sounds of glass breaking in the distance while her former guild seemed to be having a party for Natsu and Lisanna getting their 100th job done. The music had not been loud enough to be blaring in Lucy's ears, but she had been able to hear it before she lost consciousness. The guild had been rowdy, but not to the point where glass had ever been broken.

Resting comfortably in her bed, Lucy's body shivered while she could still feel the cold air that was inside her home. She opened her eyes while truly knowing that sleeping soundly was not possible right now, having an unhappy look on her face, and it was no surprise that Lucy did miss the love she had with Natsu. Being loved was a pretty good feeling that a girl could truly enjoy, and Lucy had really thought that Natsu could make her feel happy. He seemed to be such a great guy with a goofy grin on his face, always being so awesome on jobs, but his recent actions had really shattered Lucy's initial likeness towards the fire dragon slayer.

He had not only been seeing another girl behind Lucy's back, but Natsu had made people exclude her because they did not want to tell her about his secret love affair with Lisanna. More tears fell from Lucy's brown eyes while she felt really bad about her decision to date him. Judging by all of the emotions that were going through her head right now, it seemed like Lucy had really given her heart to Natsu. She had opened up her emotions and desire of love to him, really wanting to be the girl who could make him happy, but Natsu had just set her heart aflame. She had been so loyal and loving to him, and he just scorched her heart to burn her out of his love life while he could cuddle with Lisanna.

Lucy really had to wonder why things had to turn out like this, since she had never done a single thing to make Natsu dislike her, and she could only assume that he just wanted to date a girl who had everything that appealed to him. Well, what qualities would make him turn away from Lucy? It was true that she would've freaked out if he had told her that they should break up because of his feelings for Lisanna, but was that not a natural reaction? Lucy did tend to mess up on jobs sometimes, as well as getting kidnapped, making her sadly sigh while seeing that her flaws were getting in the way of Natsu having love for her.

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><p><strong>Seven hours later...<strong>

Lucy woke up to the sound of her alarm clock ringing loudly, shaking while it was next to a stack of papers that the blonde girl had been writing for a new novel, and she shut off the alarm clock with her left hand. She sat up in the bed while letting out a loud yawn, and the sunlight shined down on Lucy's face. Daylight had now made her apartment look brighter, and Lucy stretched her body out while feeling her muscles click and pop. She raised her arms high above her head, and Lucy had hoped that today would be a better day than yesterday.

She had dreamed about nothing, really, since she had been so exhausted from the stress that her dense ex-boyfriend had caused her. Lucy even felt like it would be a good idea to go the guild, mainly for the purpose of telling him that she was going to be out of his life for a long time, but even seeing him with Lisanna would just make Lucy feel upset. Just because Lisanna was stronger and faster than Lucy was, that still did not give Natsu the right to cheat on her. Even if Lisanna was kinder, making him feel so happy in every moment that they were together, that did not mean Lucy couldn't have done the same.

She heard her stomach growl louder than normal, most likely because she did not have dinner last night, and Lucy made up for that mistake by quickly going to the kitchen for breakfast to be made. She took four waffles out of the freezer, putting them in the white toaster that was plugged in on the kitchen counter, and Lucy pulled the lever down to let her waffles go down into the toaster to be cooked to perfection. They were blueberry waffles as well, so they would certainly be tasting delicious after they were done.

While the waffles were getting heated up, Lucy smiled a bit as she remembered that a message had to be left to Wendy and Carla. They were still her friends, after all, and Lucy wanted them to know that she was still their friend as well. She had a calm look in her cocoa brown eyes while she went back to her desk to get a pen, and Lucy also got a blank piece of paper to write on. She knew that the next boat to go out of Magnolia was leaving in 55 minutes, so Lucy wrote the letter fast while she also knew that she had to be neat with her penmanship.

Her suitcase had been packed with most of the clothes from her closet, and it was also filled with some food that she could eat on the boat. She had to leave everything else behind, however, but that did not matter to Lucy. She was going to hopefully have a new start in a new guild that would accept her, wanting to be in a place where people would not hide important info that she needed to know, and the blonde mage began to feel confidence build up inside of her while she knew that it would be a good move to also try and learn some new magic.

Lucy also wrote a letter to her landlady, letting her know that she would no longer be paying her monthly rent of 70,000 jewels, and that meant that she would not have to worry about paying rent every month. She was planning to also check out the guild in whatever faraway land she would end up in, hoping that it would not be really rowdy like the guild of Fairy Tail, and it would be like a vacation for her to be exploring other lands while being free from a cheating guy like Natsu. Lucy cheered happily to herself, knowing that this plan would probably go really well, but she also knew that the road to becoming stronger would involve taking one step at a time while having the resolve to work hard.

She could smile softly while having the desire to get stronger, but Lucy also had to wonder if spending a day in the Celestial Spirit World would also make things better. Even though it would make three months pass by quickly, letting her miss Natsu and Lisanna being in love for about 93 days, Lucy sighed a bit while knowing that she couldn't do that. After all, why leave for three months to only return for more heartbreak? She hated to picture Natsu and Lisanna being happy while she watched from afar, and Lucy tightly clenched her teeth. She wanted love and attention, but how could she get it?

As Lucy got up from her desk, she could hear the waffles pop up in the toaster to let her know that they were done. She ran into the kitchen to unplug the toaster, not wanting her waffles to end up being burnt, and Lucy also used a fork to get the waffles out of the toaster. She smiled happily while putting her breakfast on a white plate that was on the table, and the blonde girl sighed at herself for not putting a dish in the sink last night because of how she had been feeling. It had been clean, though, since Lucy did not even have dinner.

She simply ate her waffles without even using maple syrup, since that is how Natsu the jerk would eat them, and Lucy felt like today would just be a good day for her to leave Magnolia. She did not want to see anyone from Fairy Tail, mainly due to the fact that they weren't even her friends because of how they would not even tell her that Natsu was a deceitful cheater, and even going there to get her guild mark erased would possibly just lead to Master Makarov having to tell the others that Lucy left. Oh, well. It wasn't like they would really care about what she did, anyway.

While she tried to really get Natsu out of her head, the sounds of the mailman putting some things in her mailbox had gotten the attention of Lucy. She had never really gotten mail from anyone, not even hateful letters from Minerva, so why did she get mail today? With the waffles now in her left hand, eating pieces of them, Lucy went out the front door to check the mail one last time. What could it possibly be? It's not like anyone would send her a package from a place that was far away, and she was not exactly very popular in the guild of Fairy Tail.

Lucy went to her mailbox, opening it up to see what was going to be inside, and she hoped that this was not some prank by Natsu for her to receive pictures of him kissing Lisanna. She took a deep breath while having her eyes closed, not wanting to see a boxing glove that would punch her in the face, and Lucy opened her eyes slightly to see that a royal blue envelope was the only thing that was delivered to her. It was addressed to her while having the sweet smell of blueberry perfume on it, making her sigh happily, but Natsu hated anything with a blueberry flavor. Who could've sent this?

After gently opening the envelope while pulling out a blue piece of paper that was neatly folded, Lucy unfolded the letter before reading in a curious manner, "Congratulations, lucky winner. You have just won an all-expense paid voyage to the fabulous town of Cerulean, a lovely paradise for anyone wanting to have a great vacation in Fiore, and you get to stay in the most prestigious resort that's only exclusive to the best guild in the entire country! If you are not satisfied with what your current guild has to offer, you can take this trip through a puddle of water. Taking a train or a boat won't get you to the vacation that you want to see, so that's why exclusive invites or contest wins to this resort will guide cool people like you to the location in secrecy."

Upon reading this message, Lucy could only look surprised at the fact that she had just a won a contest to stay at a great resort. However, it was a pretty weird twist of fate because she had not even sent in an entry form for the chance to stay at the great town of Cerulean. It had been a famous place that she had only seen once in a recent issue of Sorcerer Magazine, never even thinking that she'd get to go there, but why had she been the winner without even entering? It would be pretty bad if the mailman had given the wrong mail to the wrong house, but the blue envelope had no specific recipient on it.

It would really be a waste of precious time to just walk around Magnolia while asking about who entered the contest to win a vacation at the Aqua Resort, since Natsu had possibly submitted tons of entries with Lucy's name on them to make her leave before she would ever find out that he had been cheating on her with Lisanna, but his timing was a day too late. Lucy also did need a chance to relax and enjoy some time alone, and joining a guild in a faraway town might open up a whole new world to her. She giggled at the thoughts of eating gourmet food while getting her nails done, and sunbathing on the beautiful beach.

Really, this trip was far too good for her to pass up. She could be free from Natsu, never having to see that jerk again for quite a long while, and Lucy even smirked a bit at the fact that she had now won the vacation trip that Natsu and Lisanna wanted so badly. That was some good karma for her, since it now meant that Lucy wouldn't have to watch Natsu and Lisanna kiss on a cruise ship that sailed towards the sunset, and she had indirectly dismantled their plans for a few months of romance. She would not have to even worry about hearing Lisanna sigh happily while Natsu would put oil on her back, and Lucy wished that they'd see her going away on a cruise ship that would leave at fast speeds to drench the fire dragon slayer and his white-haired mistress with cold water.

Speaking of water, the letter told Lucy that she could reach the fabulous town of Cerulean by taking a trip through a puddle of water. She found that to be odd, as well as the note saying that she would be going to best guild in Fiore, and that was because Fairy Tail won last year's Grand Magic Games. It was weird to see that another guild called themselves the best one in Fiore, since they weren't, but Lucy had to think that those people could socially be better than her fake friends in Fairy Tail. If the people in the resort were sophisticated, the guys there would really make Natsu look like a rude chump in many ways.

She had to figure out a way to reach the town of Cerulean, since a puddle of water would presumably tell Lucy how to get there, so she had a smart look in her cocoa brown eyes while pulling out the specific key from her brown pouch to summon Aquarius. She opened the gate of the Water Bearer, causing the blue-haired Celestial Spirit to appear, and the moody woman fired a vortex of water from her urn to make it strike Lucy as payback for interrupting her kiss that she was about to share with Scorpio. Lucy was drenched in water, the ground soon becoming wet with puddles after Aquarius also aimed a vortex of water into the air, and the blonde girl whined a bit from the fact that her clothes had gotten wet.

Lucy told herself aloud in a miffed manner while walking back to her apartment, closing the gate of Aquarius as she did not realize what would happen next, "Well, this was a horrible week for me. First, I bake the best chocolate cake in the world for Natsu. The day after that, I find out that he was cheating on me with Lisanna for a pretty long time. Now my clothes are soaking wet, and things can't get any worse. Besides, the chances of me finding a guy that is genuine are pretty slim. I just want to go on the trip, and-"

Before she could realize it, Lucy had stepped into a puddle of water that was like fast-acting quicksand. The water from Aquarius was never like this at all, especially since Lucy now found herself in what appeared to be an ocean of water, and she looked a bit scared while falling down at a fast pace. The puddles from the world above had quickly evaporated, making this a one-way trip, and Lucy looked pretty frightened while holding her breath. There was no seafloor for her or any animals to be on, only a white light at the bottom of this strange puddle passage, and Lucy had no other choice but to swim down into it.

The white light had blinded her eyes when she got close enough to it, making Lucy only have to rely on faith that this wasn't a devious attempt by Natsu to be rid of her for good, and Lucy allowed herself to get engulfed in the white light. It seemed to be leading her to another place, making her go somewhere pretty far, and the coldness of the water began to fade away. It was replaced by a warmth that was heating up, a large warmth that made Lucy begin to feel good, and she simply rested her eyes for a moment while letting the warm water simply flow around her.

As Lucy could now feel her body relaxing, the water starting to be really hot, she opened her eyes to see that the white light had now taken her to a place where the birds were chirping happily while the sky was blue. The sun was shining in the sky while Lucy could hear the waves crashing on to the beach, and she swam out of the puddle tunnel to find herself in a hot spring that was filled with steam while the hot water was bubbling. Flowers in many colors were outlining the hot spring, making it look rather elegant, and Lucy was curious about where she had ended up.

She looked a bit miffed while guessing that this was some secret part of Magnolia that no one had told her about, since there were plenty of things that her fake friends in Fairy Tail would never say to her, and Lucy assumed that Natsu be in on his scheme as well. Was that why the water felt so hot, specifically for the blonde girl? She could see that a large saffron-colored castle was just straight ahead, consisting of several structures joined together, and they really fit well together to make a building for someone. Some of them were even sitting on top of the others, generating an imposing, elongated structure vaguely reminiscent of an odd pyramid adorned by a multitude of facades, windows and pillars, as well as by some pointed towers protruding upwards from its upper part. Topping the whole structure was a massive light blue statue of a whale-like creature, resembling a saber-toothed cat, and Lucy could only look awestruck at the fact that she was definitely not in Magnolia anymore.

It was a shame that she did not bring her luggage along, since Lucy had packed an atlas that had maps detailing many towns in Fiore, and even Loke probably did not know where this place was located. Lucy let out a disappointed sigh while looking unhappy that she missed her trip to Cerulean, a day after Natsu had been kissing Lisanna, and now she was without love while being lost as well. As she was about to see if that puddle warp worked both ways, not knowing that it was how the mages using Water Magic were able to travel, she was suddenly met with the presence of a woman who jumped down from a nearby tree.

She had tan skin while she was a very voluptuous woman as well, and she wore a blue midriff top that left her stomach exposed as she also wore blue jeans to look pretty fashionable. Her hair was long and black, reaching down to her hips, and this female's eyes were beautiful and blue like the sea. She also wore some cherry red lipstick, and the blue-eyed woman giggled a bit while she looked at the blonde girl who was floating in the water. The front of this woman's hair was aqua blue as well, making her look pretty interesting, but Lucy did not know who she was.

"Hello, little girl. My name is Shelly Izumi, an expert Water Demon Slayer who is also one of the highest-ranking members in this fine guild that you've noticed, and I can guess that you are the person who won the contest that our arrogant master held out of boredom. We had quite a large number of entries, including tons from a girl named Juvia Lockser who kept telling us to make it a romantic vacation for her and a guy named Gray, but the winner went by the name of Lucy. Judging by how you got here through the Water Warp spell while looking like you have no idea on how to cast it, I guess that it's you. Welcome to the luxurious resort of Fiore, and just enjoy your vacation." The woman told Lucy in a calm tone, even though she looked displeased by Lucy's fashion sense.

When she heard the last sentence that came out of Shelly's mouth, Lucy could only blink twice to make sure that she heard the correct info. She smiled a bit, feeling really surprised to know that she had truly reached the Aqua Resort in the country of Hoenn, and the blonde mage got out of the water while guessing that this day just got better. She was about to have tons of fun, but Lucy also had to get out of her wet clothes. Catching a cold was definitely not a great way to start off a vacation, especially if she would end up sneezing on food, and Lucy hoped that this vacation would keep her from thinking about anything miserable. After all, Natsu already ruined her love life.

"I really hope that I'll enjoy it, and it's very nice to meet you. Before you show me around your beautiful resort and possibly show me the guild that I'll be joining, can you please help me get some new clothes? The fashion stores won't charge 100 million jewels for a simple shirt or a pair of pants, will they?" Lucy replied and asked in a sweet manner, feeling a bit cold from the water on her body losing its heat that came from being in the hot spring.

As Shelly nodded while smiling a bit, gently taking Lucy's right hand in hers, she took a left to reach the front side the large castle with the blonde girl to take her to the entrance of the great resort. That was where things were going to be like a hotel lobby, having some receptionists that would give room keys to the new guests, but the people staying in this paradise were not just tourists. They were also members of the guild, a copious amount of them that could rival the numbers of Fairy Tail, but Lucy did not mind the possibility of joining a new guild. After the way that the people in Fairy Tail treated her, the blonde girl giggled at the fantasy of just drinking a glass of Coca-Cola while they thought she would be obliviously in trouble.

Lucy walked a few steps with Shelly, smiling happily while she passed by a bush with beautiful flowers growing on it, but the blonde girl stopped for a moment when she began to put the pieces together. This resort, also acting as a guild, had a saber-toothed cat on it. The resort was in an extravagant town that seemed to be separated from Magnolia by a large sea, possibly being on the other side of Fiore, and but the oddest thing for Lucy to see was that the hot spring she came out of had been shaped like a certain emblem that she had once regretted seeing in the Naval Battle last year. Lucy was very glad to leave Fairy Tail, but it was such a plot twist for the resort to have a desire for fun from the guild known as Sabertooth.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 2? Heads up. I just want to say that this story will not involve a book, even though Shelly and Sting are in it. This story will have Lucy learning two new types of magic, though, and she will meet Sting in the next chapter. As for Natsu getting robbed of his prize for Lisanna, let's just say that pointing fingers will be a bad thing. Standby for the update! <strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Sabertooth! :D<strong>

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><p>When the black-haired woman had opened the entrance doors for her blonde companion, Shelly could only smile in a happy manner as she heard Lucy gasp in awe at what she was seeing. The brown-eyed girl was clearly impressed by how the inside of the Sabertooth guild had looked, blushing a light shade of pink when she had even seen some girls who wore fashionable clothes that had not even reached the stores of Magnolia yet, and Lucy had also taken notice of how there were many paintings of Sting on the walls. He took a lot of pride in how he looked, and the painters even had to get his cocky smile right.<p>

The inside of the Sabertooth guild had looked like a fancy hotel lobby with its golden walls and red carpet that spread out far enough to cover the entire wooden surface that was underneath, and Lucy had also liked how the chairs looked very fancy as well. They were not wooden and creaky like the ones at Fairy Tail, and the blonde mage also could tell that they were very durable. Four white chairs had been surrounding all of the round tables that were black, and Sting truly did have a pretty good sense of style. He wanted his guild to look the best, and he was hoping that Sabertooth would also be the best next year.

This guild had a brown bar like the one at Fairy Tail, but it was a self-serving bar with its machines for drinks, candy, and chips. There was even a waffle machine that dispensed waffles, and the ice cream machine stayed pretty cold with the help of Rufus having Gray's Ice-Make Magic in his memory. There was also a pinball machine in the guild that kept track of the scores, and the person who had the highest score of 987,654,123 points was Sting. He certainly was a pretty skilled guy, and Lector had known perfectly well that no one would beat his blond friend's record for quite a while.

Lucy had more happiness in her cocoa brown eyes when she saw a machine dispensing the finest desserts that anyone could ask for, and the paintings on the walls behind her were portraying Sting doing many poses with his red Exceed named Lector. The gold reception desk at the back of the room with two golden elevators next to it appeared to be where a Mage could join the guild. Classical music being played by a violin could be heard through a speaker somewhere in the gold ceiling, and Shelly took notice of her companion's smile.

Now that Lucy had seen the guildhall of Sabertooth's awesome resort, where everyone had the decency to not get rowdy or start brawls over stupid things, Shelly led Lucy over to the golden desk for her registration. This would also make her a member of a guild, giving her full access to certain places that tourists could not go to in the resort or in this part of Fiore, and being an official member of Sabertooth would also get her up to date with the latest fashion trends. It would also let Lucy enjoy all of the gourmet food for free, since ordinary tourists would have to really empty out their wallets to pay for such great meals.

The receptionist at the desk had her blonde hair in curls like Juvia did, smiling happily while she adjusted the blue tie that matched her business suit, and she asked Shelly in a happy manner while her green eyes looked up from her computer screen to see the tanned woman with Lucy, "Greetings to you, Shelly! The guild of Sabertooth is doing fine as always, and I just heard that our profits have gone up by 50,000 jewels because of our new perfume shop! Anyway, demon slayer wielding water and ice, what can I gladly do for you on this very fine day?"

Shelly explained to Julia in a calm tone while smirking a bit, gently pushing Lucy in front of her to let the receptionist see that a new person was in Fiore, "This is Lucy Heartfilia from the town of Magnolia, and she is the lucky winner of the contest that we held during this month. Please register her as a member of our guild, and get her a room that is quite luxurious. Also, she shall get room service and new clothes for free like every new person on their first day here. It's good to treat guests with hospitality, and don't worry about the type of magic that she will get. If she doesn't even know how to use the Water Warp spell, I'll help Sting see to it that she learns something."

As Lucy had curiosity in her cocoa brown eyes, Julia wrote down in Lucy's name in the registration book and used the red Lacrima Info Crystal to look up all of the data on her while a certain dragon slayer of white light had been watching the two girls from a nearby table where he had been sitting with his red Exceed named Lector. Sting had to wonder why Lucy had come here, hoping that Natsu didn't send her into Sabertooth as some kind of a spy, and he narrowed his blue eyes at the thought of that overpowered idiot while he took a slight sniff of the air. Natsu's scent couldn't be detected anywhere nearby, so that made Sting have to wonder if Lucy won the contest that he had created out of boredom. Rogue had sent the winner's letter to the post office in Magnolia, telling the mailman to just give it to someone, and luck had shined on Lucy.

After a few moments, the red Lacrima Info Crystal had a red card pop up out of a slot in the top of it. Lucy took this card into her hands, noticing that the crystal ball had looked up some info about her from Fairy Tail, and Julia had used her webcam with no flash to take a picture of Lucy as well. Her laptop was digitally connected to the Lacrima Info Crystal, so the picture of Lucy smiling a bit was on her card as well. This was her ID card to get in and out of her room, order meals from the computerized bar, buy anything that she wanted while shopping in the Sabertooth guild, and this card was not only for fun uses.

It could also help Lucy show her identification on jobs in cities that were pretty far from the Aqua Resort, letting her do jobs that would require her to go into other guilds or scientific facilities to check things out, and Lucy also had to wonder where Sting could be. Even though he was in the guildhall, simply observing her while hoping that Lucy wasn't trying to be a spy for Natsu, Lucy had not seen Sting yet. She had also not seen his teammates yet, either, since they were on an upper floor of the Sabertooth guild. Sting was the master of this guild, so he would have to be the guy to give Lucy's new guild mark to her.

With Lucy's registration now done, Shelly directed her to the left elevator for them to go up to the second floor of the resort. She gently pressed the white button with a '2' on it, letting the golden doors move apart for Lucy to enter the elevator, and Shelly went in with her. She was now going to get Lucy some new clothes, since her current outfit was soaking wet, and Shelly honestly looked like she wanted to puke from seeing Lucy's outdated sense of style. Well, it was not Magnolia's fault that the town was far behind the other places in Fiore.

As the two girls quickly reached the second floor, the doors opening up to reveal that this place had its own fashion mall for clothes and shoes, Lucy excitedly cheered with delight. Her voice made Shelly groan a bit while covering her ears, never even thinking that a whole mall for fashion was really that exciting, but it was good to see that Lucy wanted to stay in a guild like this. After all, she would also have access to the lovely spa treatments and hot springs in this place. It was all so totally cool, a real major change from the uncool guild of Fairy Tail, and how were those selfish people doing without Lucy? Did they even know that she was gone?

Lucy and Shelly quickly arrived at the second floor, mainly because of how close it had been to the first floor, and the elevator descended back down quickly for Sting to get inside of it. He had really wanted to know if Lucy was here for good reasons, since Natsu would just burn down the whole guild in a blaze of fire, and the blue-eyed male pressed the button with a '3' on it to reach the third floor while Lector was by his side. Sting knew that Shelly would give full tours to any new tourists that seemed to be tolerable, meaning that she hated the ones with bratty children that were noisy, and she'd obviously bring Lucy up to the third floor for him to meet her.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Erza had been checking the watch on her left hand for a few minutes now, almost like she was waiting for someone or something, and the scarlet-haired mage folded her arms while she sat at a table with Gray. She had been waiting for Lucy to come into the guild, since it was never like her to not show up for the money that would greatly go towards paying her monthly rent, and Erza had assumed that Lucy took a few jobs yesterday that were close to Magnolia. Jobs that were close to the guild usually came with cheap rewards, usually up to 2,000 jewels as the highest reward, so they weren't that great.

The money was not the issue in Erza's situation, though. If Lucy had been taking a job that was easy and close to the town of Magnolia, then why had she not come back yet? Lucy was not weak enough to be defeated by easy enemies, so she should've easily defeated them with the help of Loke or one of her other Celestial Spirits. As Erza was also keeping Natsu's affair a secret from Lucy, she also wondered why the entire guild was in almost full attendance. Lucy was the only person absent right now, and she had never gone out on jobs alone. Even if she had her Celestial Spirits on the mission as well, Erza assumed that Lucy had been on a difficult task worth 70,000 jewels or more.

Speaking of going out, Erza had received her mail this morning. She had received a red envelope in the mail, possibly a reply from the contest that she entered to try and win the luxurious prize of going to a five-star resort, and Erza had been miffed upon opening the envelope. It had a piece of paper inside of it, telling her that she was not the lucky winner in the contest that Shelly held, and she was rewarded with the consolation prize of a chocolate cookie. This was like receiving the white ball in a raffle drawing, meaning that almost nothing of great value would be her prize, and Erza simply felt like crushing that cookie.

As she looked up from the table to see Natsu and Lisanna kissing while they stood near a window, both of the mages blushing happily while Lisanna was about to help Natsu take off his shirt, Erza had the idea of using the fire dragon slayer to find Lucy. However, she could also tell that he was too busy with Lisanna to do any searching right now. Erza could probably ask Gray to help her, but then that would mean Juvia would want to join in on the job as well. Also, was it really a good idea to tell Juvia that she would be looking for her "love rival"?

The Rain Woman had opened up a yellow envelope to see it immediately turn into a puff of white smoke before her eyes, making Juvia look utterly shocked at the sight of this, but then she smiled with delight from seeing that her prize for getting 4th place in this event was a dozen bottles of the world's finest cola. She had sent in 500 entries to try and spend a romantic month alone with Gray, with the ironic fact being that her high number of entries still failed to help her get the grand prize, but Juvia would still be getting to tie with people for different prizes. This meant that she'd get lots of prizes, much to Erza's chagrin.

Unlike the blue envelope, the red and yellow envelopes did not say exactly where the contest had originated from. The magazines had only spoke of the winner getting to stay at a luxurious five-star resort, not even saying where it was located, and this was meant to keep the grand prize known only to the winner. Even if Happy could fly Erza all the way to the luxurious resort in Fiore, the price for staying one night would be at least 400,000 jewels. Erza was not a millionaire, nor was anyone from Fairy Tail known to be a VIP outside of Magnolia. Well, none of the fairies even knew that the high-class resort in Cerulean Town was where the Sabertooth guild had resided.

Nobody really knew this, since stealth was never needed in their own town or nearby places, but the fancy resort did have people who would have the job of actually helping Sting decide who would be the winner of the grand prize. They were actually people like Rogue, who had simply dropped the letter off at the post office while telling the mailman to deliver it to a random house, and Sting had Rufus helping him as well. The master of Memory-Make Magic had used magic to make the letter in the envelope be like a camera that could scan a person for their identity, and he would give that info to Shelly for her to greet the person. Of course, Sting and Rufus also gave her the task of using her magic to see through water. It was one of Shelly's useful abilities, and it did come in handy at times.

Erza did not know that these people could even watch the fairies through some water that had been spilled on a table by Cana yesterday, and the way how people only cared about keeping Natsu's affair a secret from Lucy had let karma see that none of them really deserved to end up being the winner. Natsu certainly didn't need a great prize like a vacation at a resort, since he could have fun anywhere with Lisanna, and the fire dragon slayer would soon have to tell Erza about how him and Lisanna kicked Lucy off of the team. Just because Erza and Gray wanted Lisanna on the team, they had never even said that they wanted Lucy off of it.

Every minute that passed had made Erza worry a bit more, hoping that Lucy had not run into any trouble, and the scarlet-haired woman did not even know that her blonde friend had been the winner of Sting's little contest. Of course, it had really been a total fluke that she even won. Erza did not know that Lucy had gotten some good karma that would relieve her of dealing with Natsu for a while, since that jerk had cheated on her, and she would not return to Fairy Tail. She hated seeing Natsu with Lisanna, their romance making her jealous, and Erza did not realize yet that she had also hurt Lucy by not telling her that she was being played by Natsu for such a long time.

Mira suddenly read aloud while smiling in a happy manner, feeling joyous to see that she was now going to read the gold paper for Natsu's entry, "Hello, tenth place winner in this contest. We are so happy to tell you that your luck is good. You were one of many people who won tenth place in our contest, and you get a large bowl of sticky peanut butter. We hope that you enjoy the world's finest peanut butter that is filled with fudge chocolate ice cream as well, Natsu Dragneel, and thank you for submitting an entry to our lovely little contest." (The red, yellow, and blue envelopes reference the dorm status from Yu-Gi-Oh GX, thus explaining how the colors represent the prizes.)

Lisanna's blue eyes perked up from hearing that Natsu had won tenth place, giving him a very sweet bowl to enjoy, but why had she gotten a yellow envelope that vanished into a puff of smoke to award her with the 2nd place prize of getting ten tubs of spicy hot wings? She did not get the grand prize, even though she saw Natsu put both of their entries in the blue mailbox near his house for their letters to be sent, and he had said that the letter would tell the people that Lisanna was a famous person who wanted a great vacation. She had submitted her own entry for the fun of it, but why did she not get the grand prize or a second prize?

Knowing that Natsu would just burn all the peanut butter, Erza looked stern while throwing her chocolate cookie like a Frisbee to make it end up in his mouth. She simply walked over to Mira's table to take away the large bowl of peanut butter that was filled with chocolate fudge ice cream, and Erza gave Natsu a stern glare to tell him that they had swapped prizes with no take-backs. Besides, when Natsu would see that his current lover did not have two prizes to own, somebody truly would have to give him a cookie for admitting that he screwed up.

While Gray looked calm upon opening his yellow envelope, seeing that he had won a large bowl of Christmas cookies and Christmas chocolate candy, he sighed a bit from seeing that this was the prize for 8th place. He had wanted something like the feast that Juvia had just received from her second envelope, but Gray also had to wonder why Lucy was not in the guild to enjoy or hate any of these prizes. She would've shown up by now, but the blonde girl was still absent from Fairy Tail. Gray could guess that Natsu had broken up with Lucy yesterday, and she must've been having the worst time of her life.

"Lisanna, let's go buy a bowl of peanut butter! I bet that any other peanut butter can taste just as great as the stuff in that bowl, and I bet that we can give some to Lucy as a way of trying to cheer her up when we tell her that she's been kicked off the team. She might throw a tantrum, though, but that's why I can't love her anymore. She acts so very spoiled, Lisanna, and you're so sophisticated." Natsu told his lover in a confident manner, smiling happily at the thought of making his own peanut butter while stupidly forgetting that different parts of Fiore used their own native ingredients to make the same foods taste drastically different from each other.

The white-haired mage replied in a happy manner, before giving Natsu a loving kiss on the cheek, "If Lucy starts crying and trying to hurt us, we should get a really large bowl of peanut butter to dump it all on her. She might chase after us while slipping on that sticky peanut butter, and I'll pull out my camera to take some pictures of your crying ex. Then, Lucy will be sad enough to leave us alone forever. I don't want her to get in the way of our love, so let's hope that the messy sight of her in Sorcerer Magazine will tell that spoiled girl to not come between us. Besides, our happiness must be making her feel total misery right now."

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><p><strong>In the Sabertooth guild...<strong>

Shelly had taken Lucy into one of the fashion stores on the second floor of the resort to get out of those wet clothes, finding an outfit for the blonde girl to wear while she was now in a fitting room, and the woman with aqua blue eyes threw some clothes over the door for Lucy to get them. She simply leaned against the other fitting room door while Lucy was changing her clothes, and the fact that her new apprentice seemed cute had made her pretty glad to know that the beauty of her guild would still stand. Everybody looked fashionable, which was true, but clothes from Fiore were two fashion seasons behind.

When Lucy had quickly put on the clothes, obviously after taking off everything that she wore before putting them on, she stepped out of the fitting room to receive a nice giggle from her new guild master. Lucy wore an emerald green midriff top with some sapphire blue jean shorts, and her running shoes were red. She looked pretty up to date with her wardrobe, even applying an orange bow to the left side of her head, and Lucy also had her blonde hair down to look really pretty. She definitely looked stylish like a guild member at the resort, even though she would like a little bit of makeup, but Shelly still had a few places that Lucy had to see.

She had exited the store with Lucy, telling her not to worry about paying for the clothes because of the tourists spending so much cash at the resort on a daily basis, and Shelly took her back into the golden elevator to reach the third floor of the resort. This floor was where all of the fast-food places and fancy restaurants were located, the various aromas food flowing through the air, and Lucy's stomach had growled a bit while she was in the elevator. Even though waffles weren't enough to fill her stomach, Shelly told Lucy that they would get some food when the tour was complete.

As the girls were about to take the elevator up to the fourth floor, a shadow had gently grabbed Lucy to vanish out of the elevator with her. Shelly narrowed her aqua blue eyes at the sight of this, knowing that only one person had shadowy abilities in the guild of Sabertooth, and the black-haired woman took a few steps out of the elevator to see that Lucy had been brought to a table where Sting had been sitting with Lector and Frosch. Rogue had taken Lucy over to the table where Sting was sitting, before allowing her to sit down in a third chair that was at the square table, and Shelly dragged another one over there because she wanted to know what was going on.

Lucy gulped a bit from wondering why she had been carried over to the table for Sting Eucliffe to see her, having a cocky grin on his face while he smirked at her for a few moments, and Lector was also smirking while Rogue and Frosch looked pretty calm like nothing great was happening. She did not expect to run into Sting so soon, especially since Shelly had just helped her pick out some new clothes, but Lucy was not about to freeze up in front of the guild master. Besides, this guy was the rival of Natsu. Since he had cheated on Lucy, how in the world would Sting react to hearing news like that?

"Well, if it isn't Blondie from Fairy Tail. I can see that Shelly was cool enough to get you some new clothes, even though she rarely does anything nice for me, but this better not be some plan made by Natsu to spy on the Sabertooth guild. That guy beat me in the tag-team battle last year, I surrendered to Fairy Tail in the survival tournament, and your guild became the best in Fiore. Ever since last year, you've been his girlfriend. Why would you be here, Blondie, and what more do you want from us?" Sting asked and told her in a somewhat irked tone, not wanting to deal with a stupid guy like Natsu today.

Lucy responded in a stern manner while clenching her fists a bit, "Don't call me Blondie, Sting! You're blond as well, and Natsu didn't send me here at all! Apparently, I'm the winner of a contest that I didn't even enter! I just want to be far away from that jerk Natsu right now, especially since he cheated on me with Lisanna and kicked me off of the team! He even made almost everyone in Fairy Tail ignore me to protect his secret plan, and I wasted twelve months of my life on that guy! I just want to join Sabertooth, relax in peace, and be far away from a disgusting liar like him!"

Sting had screamed in pain because of his enhanced hearing working in a bad combo with Lucy's loud explanation, making the white dragon slayer and Rogue cover their ears for a moment, and only Shelly could hear Lucy panting heavily out of stress while other people in the food court looked at her like she really was new to the guild. Shelly turned to glare at them all with an icy stare, threatening to freeze everyone if they didn't go back to eating their food, and they chose to not risk Shelly's wrath. She had heard every word that came out of Lucy's mouth, really sounding like she wanted nothing to do with Fairy Tail, and her heart seemed emotionally broken.

Shelly let Lucy know that Sting would be glad to have her join his guild, since it would really show the fairies that they were wrong to throw out someone who seemed so very nice and sensitive, and Sting calmly told Lucy to never scream around him ever again. He wanted to know how Natsu could possibly kick her off of the team, seeing as she had ten of the Golden Zodiac Gate Keys, and Lucy looked a bit saddened while telling him that it was because Natsu wanted the best for Lisanna. He had never cared much for Lucy, since he had always been so loving to Lisanna, and the blonde mage felt like she wasn't good enough for any guy to like her.

She had wasted twelve months of her time on a guy that did not even truly love her, since he was so much more loyal to his precious Lisanna, and Lucy began to look depressed while wondering what she lacked. Just because Lisanna confessed her feelings to Natsu while being sweet and gentle, Lucy thought that she could've done the same thing. She had loved him with all her heart, but he simply broke it into pieces because he found more of a love with Lisanna. She had certain qualities that Lucy did not possess, making Natsu want Lisanna to replace Lucy, and the blonde mage really felt uncertain about her future right now.

Lucy did not want to go all the way back to Fairy Tail, if Sting would not allow her to be in his guild, and the brown-eyed girl knew that she had to prove her loyalty to the guild of Sabertooth. Lucy would definitely be loyal and kind to her new friends, which would be a stark difference from how most of the people in Fairy Tail had treated her, and determination began to build up in her cocoa brown eyes while she was going to show her new nakama that Fairy Tail would be the guild of her past while Sabertooth's luxurious lifestyle would be the gift of her present.

As Lucy held out her right hand to Sting, wanting him to erase her insignia from the guild of Fairy Tail, her stomach growled loudly to let everyone know that she was hungry. Shelly had a calm look on her face while going over to a nearby food stand that sold cheeseburgers, not even caring if Lucy did not east fast food, and she gave her ID card to the cashier to pay 3,000 jewels for the food. Shelly told the cashier to give her five of those cheeseburgers, since the food at Sabertooth could keep anyone from worrying, and the blue-eyed woman could sense that Lucy was still feeling very upset over the fact that Natsu cheated on her with Lisanna.

Even though she was trying to put on an act of thinking that erasing the insignia of a fairy to get the insignia of a tiger would make her past be put behind her, Shelly knew that it took more than a change of guild marks for pain to be fixed. Lucy was definitely hiding her sadness right now, especially after the outburst that nearly left Sting deaf, and Shelly decided that the tour of the resort would continue tomorrow. Lucy would be shown to her dorm room, of course, but everything else could be saved for later. Besides, if she really wanted to prove her loyalty to Sabertooth and her defection from Fairy Tail, Shelly knew that Lucy could always take a job tomorrow with Sting. Not only would that let Sting have a good or bad bond with her, but it would also let Shelly help out Lucy by teaching her some magic on her first adventure as a mage of Sabertooth.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 3? Did you like it? Sting and Lucy have finally met, and they shall both be helped out by Rogue and Shelly. The StiCy will develop over the next set of chapters, since Lucy will now be in Sabertooth, and things could get interesting. As for Natsu and Lisanna, let's just say that telling Erza and Gray about what they said will have its consequences. Standby for the update! <strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>The Lovely Scents of Flowers, The Loose Lips of Liars<strong>

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><p>The following day, Lucy had woken up in one of the dorm rooms at the Sabertooth guild. This was her new bedroom, as well as where she would now be living, and it looked quite different from the bedroom that Lucy had in her apartment. This room possessed a brown tiled ceiling, emerald green walls, sapphire blue carpeting that covered the entire floor, and the furniture was purple in color. The large four-poster bed was a royal purple with two soft pink pillows on it, and there was also a purple rectangular table in the middle of the room as well. A purple sofa stood behind the table, and there was a wide purple dresser next to a tall purple bookcase near the door.<p>

The brown wooden door was across from Lucy's royal purple bed, and the blonde girl smiled happily while seeing a pink desk on the left side of the room with a pink heart-shaped chair to match it. There were two adjacent arched windows on the left side of her room, having red curtains that were moved away from the windows, and the sunlight beautifully shined into Lucy's dorm room. Really, this guild was definitely good with its ability to make the rooms look pretty stylish for every specific person. Shelly had hoped that this room would be to Lucy's liking, based on how everything was state of the art at this guild.

Lucy removed the pink comforter off of her body, and she raised her arms high above her head. She knew that Shelly was a really cool friend to have around, since she had bought a five large cheeseburgers with two boxes of fries to share yesterday with Lucy, and the blonde girl was very impressed with her friend's thoughts for design ideas. It was almost as if she had known what kinds of style would appeal to her in terms of design, but the blue-eyed Water Demon Slayer had mainly looked at how Lucy had made her outfits match with beautiful blends of colors. If she had used green, blue, and purple for her clothing, would it not look good to her in an awesome room that no one could break into?

The blonde mage got out of bed to look outside one of the arched windows, and Lucy noticed that she was on the eighth floor of the guild. That was pretty good, since Shelly was also staying on this floor as well. Of course, Lucy did not know that yet. She quickly turned around to take notice of her room also having a bathroom that had a beautiful red tiled floor with some orange walls to match. She could see that the bathtub was large and elegant while it was white, and the black cabinet near it had contained many bottles of body wash and shampoos for her to use.

Since Lucy did not really feel like starting off her day with a shower, knowing that someone could knock at any moment to possibly greet their new friend, and she noticed that there was now a purple plate of chocolate cookies with a cup of warm hot chocolate made for Lucy to start her day. The blonde mage looked a bit confused by the sight of this, hoping that there was not a ghost in her dorm room, but she did not know that Sting had made a ninja like Dobengal act as the person to deliver room service to people in a quick and quiet manner for breakfast and dinner.

As Lucy walked over to the pyramid of fifty-five chocolate cookies, taking the first one from the top to eat it and smile while enjoying how great it tasted, she heard someone softly knock at the door. This is what she thought would happen, since it was the reason why she didn't take a shower, and Lucy had to wonder who it could be. She quickly went into the bathroom for a brush, fixing her hair nicely to look good for a possible first impression, and the brown-eyed girl ran back out to open the door. Whoever wanted to see her, it might be a good first meeting.

"Good morning, Lucy Heartfilia. I hope that you slept well last night, and I also hope that your room is to your utmost liking. You were telling us yesterday about how Fairy Tail started off every morning with people ignoring you or brawls starting over nonsense when you were too sick to go out on jobs with Natsu, but you'll be happy to know that the guild of Sabertooth is much more refined. Anyway, before you start to eat breakfast, I just wanted you to know that we will be going on a job today. Sting wants you to prove your loyalty to us before you get your guild mark, and you also may not want to be looking like that when you're around him. He might blush, you know." Shelly explained with a calm smile on her face, before looking down at what the blonde girl was wearing.

Lucy curiously looked down at her current attire, before blushing a light shade of pink at the fact that she was in her orange lacy bra and orange lacy panties, prompting her to quickly close the door to put on some clothes. She did not want any pervy guys passing by to see her in her underwear, and Lucy wasted no time picking out something to wear. She picked out an orange top with some blue jeans to match, and her running shoes were yellow. Lucy styled her hair into a ponytail on the right side of her head, and she also tied her hair together with a purple ribbon.

The blonde mage opened her brown door once again to see Shelly, now smirking a bit while some thoughts ran through her head, and Lucy replied in a kind manner while smiling happily "I'm ready for the job now, Shelly. I promise you that my skills will not hold you back or let you down, since I really want to join up with you guys, and I'll give it my best efforts. Sting will see that I am no longer allied to Natsu, since that jerk broke my heart into many pieces for his own selfish desires, and I'll get strong enough to where my Celestial Spirits can make everyone in Fairy Tail look weak!"

She had ambition in her cocoa brown eyes while looking straight at Shelly, intent on showing the black-haired woman that she would be a great asset to Sabertooth, and Lucy had to wonder about where this first job would take place. Shelly informed her that they were going to the nearby town of Celadon to handle some jewel thieves that had strangely used magic from plants for their robberies to always be successful, and she smirked a bit while pulling out the brown flyer from the left pocket of her jeans. The flyer let Lucy see that this job was offering up 600,000 jewels as its reward, which was plenty of money that could give her some extra motivation to succeed on this job.

Lucy could guess that she would not be facing off against typical bandits like in Magnolia, since she had never seen a job on Fairy Tail's request board with such a high price for capturing thieves, and the blonde girl knew that she wouldn't be dealing with people at a novice level. For these guys to have such a high bounty on their heads, Lucy knew that she would have to help Sting and Shelly form a decent strategy. Even as intense as this mission sounded, Lucy still felt that it could be fun if she showed those villains that she could kick their butts. She was totally ready to win, but the growling of her stomach made Lucy lightly blush a bit.

Shelly just had to laugh from hearing Lucy's stomach growl, and she gently grabbed her friend's right hand to run off with her to the elevator. She was going to take Lucy down to the third floor for a high-class breakfast, since the restaurants also served morning meals of the highest caliber, and Shelly knew that Sting would be waiting for the girls to show up at the entrance of Celadon City. He would possibly act cool around Lucy, being glad that she showed up, and it was actually a true fact that battles could be the start of building chemistry. Of course, the woman with aqua blue eyes knew that Lucy could not rush into a relationship.

She was still hurting because of how Natsu had cheated on her with Lisanna, since that clearly transpired two days ago, and Lucy did have to give her heart some time to heal. Besides, Shelly could not force Lucy to bond with a guy in any way. Getting cheated on was a pretty major thing for a girl to go through, coupled with the fact that a jerk like Natsu had kicked Lucy off of his team, and Lucy just needed to have some fun on jobs while she could also relax at the resort. She needed to feel the warmth of the sun shining on Cerulean Town, or Shelly thought that the flowers in the town of Celadon could also lift her mood with their sweet aroma.

At least they were now getting closer to elevator, meaning that Lucy would soon get some delicious breakfast to eat, and Shelly knew that eating sweet things was one of the first steps to getting over a breakup. While Lucy would be enjoying her time eating with the black-haired woman, as well as the fact that she would get to be on her first job in a new guild, she actually began to realize that a new friend was actually wanting to be around her. Shelly did not ignore her like anyone in the Fairy Tail guild would have done, and she was so honest. It was true that some of the longtime mages in Sabertooth had seen her as a stern ally of Sting and Rogue while her powers could make her be a real terror in battles, similar to Erza Scarlet, but Shelly did have a sweet side that she was letting Lucy get to see because of the blonde mage disliking Fairy Tail.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, outside of Lucy's old home...<strong>

With a whole day having now gone by while Lucy had still not shown up to the guild at all, Erza and Gray were starting to look pretty worried about where their friend could be. Lucy was not the kind of person who would be lazy or skip work to go on a major shopping spree, since she always needed the money to pay her rent, so it was odd for her to be gone again. Lucy would always show up to do jobs of any kind, even if she had to wait a few hours for Natsu to show up, so why had she been absent once again? If she was sick, Lucy would at least leave a note for Happy to read aloud for everyone in Fairy Tail to hear about her business.

Since it was weird that Lucy had not shown up to the guild once again, Erza and Gray had sent out Natsu and Lisanna to see what could be going on with her. If she had found out about the fact that Natsu was cheating on her and just using her, then Lucy would really be miffed at the guild. While Erza had known all about Natsu's plan to date Lisanna, thinking that Lucy would never ever know about it, Gray had actually been absent on the day that Natsu told the guild about his intentions. He was having an affair, which was true, and Erza was going to help Lucy try and cope with it if she had found out about her fiery boyfriend being utterly deceitful.

Upon seeing that Lisanna and Natsu had come back so soon from a nearby town, the white-haired mage having a lovely bouquet of flowers in her left hand, Erza had a stern look in her brown eyes while she wondered why her friends were so hasty to return. If Lucy was not at home, then where in the world could she possibly be? She noticed that the fire dragon slayer looked a bit nervous, almost like he was shocked from seeing that his ex-girlfriend was now gone, and Erza had to really wonder if Lucy left without saying anything. That would be the most logical thing for her to do, but not so suddenly in random circumstances if she didn't know what Erza knew.

The scarlet-haired mage had not told Lucy about the fact that Natsu was cheating on her, due to Lucy possibly causing drama in the aftermath of finding out that Lisanna was the new woman in the life of the pink-haired dragon slayer, and it was just really weird that she had vanished in only one day. Gray had told Erza that they should go look for Lucy themselves, mostly because of the fact that Erza could use her Black Wing Armor to search from the skies while Gray would use his ice to quickly slide through towns while searching for his friend, but they would have to get permission from Makarov to do any large searches of Fiore.

As Gray had been walking around outside Lucy's apartment, not wearing any shoes because of the sun's heat shining down harshly on Magnolia, he had to wonder about why Lucy's absence seemed so strange to him. The timing was far too perfect for her to be missing, since many people in different areas of Fiore had entered the great contest that Sting had held, but Gray knew that there was just no way that Lucy could win a contest out of the blue like that. She had not even submitted an entry form, since Lucy was smart enough to see that the odds of winning were fairy low for every person, but Gray would never know that Lucy had been the one to win.

"Hey, guys. I know that this might sound weird, but do you think that Lucy won the contest yesterday? Everyone who had entered it got their prizes yesterday, even the major losers, so isn't it a bit strange that Lucy went missing on the same day that people got to see if they were the lucky winner? She possibly could've sent in an entry at the last minute, you know, so maybe the best prize would be saved for the last person who entered the contest." Gray asked and explained in a calm manner while smiling a bit, his theory making tons of sense to Erza.

Lisanna replied nicely with joy in her eyes, before kissing Natsu on his right cheek, "I doubt that Lucy could be the one to win that luxurious prize, Gray, and it's because my sweet Natsu told me that I would be the winner. He made my entry letter sound really great, since I really need that vacation, and I'm still waiting for my second prize to arrive. It can come in any shape or form, but Natsu guaranteed me that we'll win that trip to the lovely resort. Besides, it would be good for us to get far away from Lucy. When Natsu and I are kissing on the cruise ship, she'll be so shocked and angry to know that we're a couple now."

Upon hearing those last words come out of Lisanna's mouth, Gray narrowed his dark blue eyes while he began to sternly look at Natsu. His white-haired mistress had just said that Lucy would be shocked and angry to find out about the fact that Lisanna was now dating Natsu, something that really took Gray by surprise, and all he could ask the fire dragon slayer to do was explain himself. He knew that Natsu would screw up his relationship with Lucy at some point, even if he had tried to make everything go his way, but to cheat on her? That was pretty low of Natsu, mainly because he had gotten bored with Lucy to hook up with Lisanna, and Erza let out a soft sigh.

She let Gray know that Natsu told everyone in the guild to keep quiet about his affair with Lisanna while making them also not tell Lucy about it, since she would just throw a dramatic fit, and the ice mage looked pretty miffed about the fact that Natsu had made Lucy go through such selfish silence like that. Erza had told Gray that they had also agreed to have Lisanna join the team, since she had been working well with Natsu on jobs, and Lucy was nowhere to be found. They had no way of even tracking her, since Lucy's trail ended in a few steps away from her apartment, and Gray had really hoped that Lucy had gotten the good karma of ripping that luxurious trip to the resort right out of Natsu's hands.

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><p><strong>Elsewhere, in Celadon Town...<strong>

After eating some plates of golden waffles that were topped with blueberries and whip cream, Lucy and Shelly had left the Sabertooth guild to head out towards the town of Celadon. This place was famous for its Game Corner that had many slot machines like it had been a casino, as well as the perfume shops that gave off many different scents that filled the air. Even the flowers in the nearby gardens of some houses had smelled really nice, and there were also many fruit trees surrounding an elegant fountain of water. Lucy smiled happily while she took in the scent of honey that came from a nearby perfume shop, giving off a sweet smell that even convinced her that real honey was extremely delectable.

Shelly also giggled a bit from smelling the honey-scented perfume, her nose picking up on the scent of blueberry perfume coming from a different shop where the sweet fragrances could be made, and this town was certainly beautiful. Celadon's residents had used things like nectar and fruits to make different scents of perfume, even using chocolate bars for the sales in perfume to rise much more than necessary, and the sweetness made Shelly be really glad that Cerulean was not that far from Celadon. After all, who wouldn't want to bring back sweet things in many forms while living in luxury at the resort or relaxing on the beach while getting a lovely tan?

As Lucy was about to go buy some perfume, wanting to enjoy a lovely smell that she could use as a means of hiding from Natsu if they were to ever cross paths, she was suddenly met with a red Exceed flying on to her head. Lector had been smirking with confidence, since Sting had asked him to be his guide for finding the girls, and the white dragon slayer was not too far behind his friend. He smirked at Lucy and Shelly, very glad that they showed up to help him out on this job, and Sting was also glad to see that Lucy had not been getting too disrupted by the perfume in the air or the desserts in the stores that were nearby.

Sting had taken notice of Lucy's outfit for the day, liking how she wore clothes in the cute color of orange, but he knew that it was not possible to rhyme the color orange with anything else to make a nice joke. She did look pretty cute right now, especially with the way that she smiled while sniffing perfume, but Sting knew that he couldn't try hitting on her at the moment. She was still in heartbreak because of how that dense idiot Natsu had played her like a sap, not even caring for her at all, and Sting knew that he would just have to help her get through it. Besides, it was a double-win for him. If she was truly loyal to Sabertooth, Sting would get to talk to her more while she would also be disliking a rude guy like Natsu. The blue-eyed male always did have a plan, even if it could be weird sometimes.

While he had been smiling nicely at Lucy's fashion choices, causing her to smile back at him while she pulled out her brown pouch of golden Celestial Spirit Keys from the left pocket of her blue jeans, Shelly sternly glared at the white dragon slayer while she wanted him to focus on the fact that the sweetness of this town was now being met with a few rotten thieves. As soon as Sting turned around, he found himself having to quickly tackle down Lucy as well to help them both evade some green seeds that were headed their way. These seeds ended up hitting a tree outside of Celadon, before they all exploded at the same time to create a pale green blast of energy, and Sting helped Lucy get up while he could now see that the thieves were now aiming for them.

Lucy had looked straight ahead to see that a woman with long purple hair and fair skin had been smirking evilly at the trio while she also wore a black fur coat with some white leather boots that reached up to her ankles, clearly looking like she was a woman of fashion with fury to match, and she had green eyes while her lipstick was in a violet color. This woman also wielded a green spell book with her, holding it in her left hand, and Shelly groaned in frustration from realizing that this thief must've written the job herself while giving out false info about more than one thief being at large. Besides, based on how she had missed her targets so easily, this woman had to have been only using her magic for a short time.

"I've finally found them! You must be Lucy Heartfilia, the blonde girl from the famous guild known as Fairy Tail, and you have ten Celestial Spirit Keys that would look great in my hands. They would give me so much power, and I can guess that you're nothing without them. You know, it's smart to just hand them over and run along. Having Holder Magic gives you so much more freedom to do many things, and I'll keep milking the power of items to make me rich." The woman explained in an arrogant tone while she was grinning evilly at Lucy, hoping that she would hand over the ten golden keys.

The brown-eyed mage responded in a stern tone, her fists clenched while she looked really disgusted by this thief's behavior, "I get that you're a sleazy person, but I still can't believe that even someone like you could be so greedy and selfish. You think that having money to get nice clothes and jewelry makes it to where you can tell other people what to hand over, but that's not the case with me. You can't just think of yourself when certain matters arise, and no amount of money or beauty can really change the fact that you're a thief. You cheat and steal to get what you want, and I really can't stand people who aren't loyal or fair with what other people think."

While the woman known as Michelle began to break out in laughter at what Lucy had said, telling the blonde girl that she was thinking that some important things would be said in her little reproving speech, Shelly and Sting could guess that their friend was indirectly referring to Natsu and Lisanna. The fire dragon slayer had flat out lied to Lucy by being unfaithful to her, cheating on her to be with a woman that supposedly had more beauty, and the white-haired mage stole Natsu from Lucy by confessing her feelings for him. Lisanna had made Natsu fall in love with her, making their bond of love grow, and she had also been pleased to know Natsu ousted Lucy to not have her in the way of their love.

Lucy was angry at the fact that this woman was devious like Natsu, as well as being a dirty thief like Lisanna, and she simply told Michelle that she was going down right now. The Celestial Spirit Wizard pulled out the key for Aries, opening up the Gate of The Ram, and the pink-haired spirit appeared next to her master. Lucy was not about to let something else be ripped right out of her hands, and the stern look on her face let Michelle know that she was not going to do this the easy way. The girls were clearly going to fight, meaning that they would do this the hard way, but Sting and Shelly were also by Lucy's side to assist her in taking down this thief.

Michelle began the battle by firing ten sharp-edged razor leaves at Lucy, something that looked pretty weak, but these leaves could even slice through solid iron. Lucy was about to tell Aries to create a large wall of pink wool to be shielded from Michelle's attack, but Shelly had quickly exhaled a breath of icy air to freeze the leaves solid. They fell to the ground, the ice making them break into pieces, and Sting used his Holy Ray attack in an attempt to hit Michelle with many white beams of light that moved in a curved trajectory. She had used another spell to blow a gust of many red flower petals from her mouth, making them explode in pale green blasts when they collided with Sting's rays of light, and these blasts had a little side effect of creating a sweet aroma that smelled like cherries.

The large amount of light had made Lucy close her eyes, providing the perfect moment for Michelle to smirk evilly while she unleashed ten green vines from her fingers, and the violet-haired woman had grabbed Lucy's arms and legs to restrain her from running away. She made her vines carry Lucy up into the air, not knowing that the blonde girl was clearly scared of falling from high heights to be killed when she hit the ground, and Michelle laughed in a sadistic manner while she was threatening to slam Lucy into the earth repeatedly if she didn't hand over her Celestial Spirit Keys. She also said that strangling the blonde girl until she died was another option to consider, and Michelle could also use the vines to crush Lucy's bones and organs as another way to kill her.

Lucy struggled to break free, failing to get loose from the vines because they had a tight grip on her body, and she had interestingly just helped Shelly figure out a simple solution. The black-haired woman had a calm look in her aqua blue eyes while she told Sting to simply use his White Dragon's Roar to destroy the vines that were holding Lucy hostage, and Shelly had other spells besides Ice Demon's Frost Breath. She ran towards Michelle while preparing to activate another one of her icy spells, and Michelle just had to be dumb enough to fall for what was about to happen.

Upon seeing that Shelly was headed her way, looking like she was about to start things off with a strong kick, Michelle fired ten large green thorns from her mouth while knowing that they could also poison a target. She was sure that Shelly had to be really stupid, but even the most typical leads into an attack were the best times for someone to fake out their opponent. Shelly quickly used a move called Ice Demon's Shield, and it pretty much lived up to its name. This spell caused Shelly to stretch her arms out in front of her chest, having her hands opened up to make them not be in the form of fists, and white icy air came from her hands before all of it began to fuse together.

The icy air formed a large shield of ice that was light blue with the white icy symbol of the Sabertooth guild in the center of the spell, and Michelle's thorns had immediately stopped going through the air when they struck Shelly's icy shield. They soon became light blue like the defensive wall, its ice having the ability to change the element of anything that it touched, and the icy thorns were reflected back at Michelle! The antagonist looked totally shocked to see that she was about to be hit with her own spell, the icy air making her body feel numb, and she wasn't able to move fast enough in an attempt to evade her fate.

When the frozen and powerful thorns struck Michelle, a massive light blue blast of energy transpired for all of the people in Celadon to witness! The power of the blast had created icy waves of energy that froze the vines binding Lucy, causing them to quickly break into pieces, and the blonde girl fell down to the ground. She had thought of telling Aries to make a large cushion of pink wool to break her fall, but Michelle's vines had a side effect of draining magical power from the object that they had constricted. They had squeezed on Lucy's arms and legs, obeying the sadistic thoughts of Michelle, and Lucy had felt drained while she saw Aries return to the Celestial Spirit World.

Much to her relief, however, Lucy had luckily landed in the arms of someone who had caught her. The brown-eyed girl looked up to see that Sting had caught her, the user of White Dragon Slayer Magic smirking a bit at how Lucy had distracted Michelle long enough for Shelly to come up with that quick strategy, and Lucy felt safe in his arms. A small smile formed on her lips when she knew that Natsu had been there to catch her when she would fall from high places, but his touch had never really felt genuine. Sting's hands were filled with white light, making Lucy feel warm while he held her in his arms, and she really liked his warming touch that felt so caring.

Sting was even using the light from his warm hands to send magical power into Lucy's body, since he could sense that she was feeling utterly exhausted, and Lucy's brown eyes began to be filled with joy from feeling Sting heal her. Lucy's wounds from the vines were also healing quickly, the constriction marks starting to vanish while any cracks in her bones or damage to her organs had also healed, and this spell was known as White Dragon's Holy Light. It could heal Sting or any of his allies back to full health, no matter how serious their injuries had been. (I know that Sting does not canonically have that spell, but just go along with it.)

After all of the light blue smoke had cleared up, Sting allowed Lucy to stand on her feet while they walked over to the scene of Shelly standing over Michelle. The violet-haired thief had her green eyes open while she had blacked out for a moment, before looking up at Shelly to wonder if she had lost. The antagonist heard the sound of flames crackling, making her curious about why the sound of fire could be heard, and Michelle immediately gasped in shock while quickly crawling over to the book for the sake of putting out a green flame that was on the top-left corner of it. She was blowing on the flame to put it out, but the fire simply grew larger to consume the book.

"Hey, don't be stupid! You're going to get burned!" Sting told Michelle in a concerned tone, since he knew that a person could experience tons of pain from having fire create burns on their skin.

Michelle told herself in a panicking tone, looking very worried while she noticed that blowing on the green flames and slamming her hands down on them had no effect, "I can't put the flames out! They won't go out! My book, my precious tool, my life of riches! It's all going to end!"

Lucy thought that Michelle could just read a new spell book while she would be in jail, even if she could all of her stolen money to pay for getting out of prison, but the burning of this book did not have such a simple ending. While Michelle's green book began turning to ashes, as it burned away, her body began to start vanishing. Lucy, Sting, and Shelly were all shocked to see such a thing happen right before their eyes, never guessing that Michelle would be erased from existence, but that's what could happen to people who carelessly wielded spell books. If the book itself were to be damaged by an offensive spell of any kind, such as how the light blue blast had struck Michelle's book, then the book would catch fire while the wizard who owned it would begin to vanish as a consequence for losing their magic.

The scene had really freaked out Lucy, who had never seen something like this happen before, but she was assured by Sting that it was a deadly fate only for people who used spell books in battle to have some magic. That's why most people used Caster Magic or other forms of Holder Magic, keeping them from dealing with such a bad outcome, so a sadistic person like Michelle was pretty unlucky. At least it was karma for that greedy thief, since she had been evil enough to want Lucy's golden keys in an attempt to get more money, and the blonde girl was not going to let anyone ruin her life ever again.

She gave high-fives to her new nakama, very proud that they all worked together to get the job done, and Lucy had certainly proved that she was a member of Sabertooth. Even though she had not done much on this first mission, she still had the perfect timing to get captured for Shelly to take down Michelle. The mayor of Celadon Town also gave them three bags of 200,000 jewels each, totaling up to the 600,000 jewels offered from the flyer, and this job had certainly turned out to be a success. Lucy was glad that she had helped Sting and Shelly take down the villain, and she unknowingly blushed a light shade of pink from thinking about how Sting had caught her when she was about to hit the ground.

Despite the fact that he was the guy who had laughed at her during the Naval Battle on the fourth day of last year's Grand Magic Games, Lucy still saw that Sting had could be a great guy. He had caught her when she fell, something that Natsu only did when Lucy would fall from dangerous heights, and the white dragon slayer had even picked a few flowers for Lucy as a gift for her first trip to the town of Celadon. These were pink tulips that gave off a very sweet smell, having such a nice aroma, but Lucy knew that she couldn't start dating so fast. Even if Sting did it as a friendly gesture, they still had to build up their chemistry.

While Lucy left the town with Sting and Shelly, ready to have some fun at the resort, she did not even notice that two pink cherry blossoms had fallen from a nearby tree to land on her head. They had been created by users of Plant Demon Slayer Magic, sending their energies through the flowers and trees, and a pale green aura surrounded Lucy's body for a few seconds. She had even been touched by Michelle's vines that secretly dripped lightly with green energy to show how unstable the antagonist's magic had been, and the Plant Demon Slayer Magic also went into the pores of Lucy's skin. She had taken in enough of this magic to officially have it, you know.

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><p><strong>One hour later...<strong>

After they had gotten back to the guild of Sabertooth, Lucy and Shelly were both happy about how that job was pretty easy for them to handle. Even if Michelle vanishing was a weird sight to see, it still meant that the selfish thief had been taken down. Since Lucy's tour of the resort had not officially been done, mainly due to yesterday being only one day after Natsu had cheated on her to be with Lisanna, Shelly had decided to use her free time for the chance to show Lucy around the rest of the refined guild. Even the guests could not get free tours of this place, so couldn't it be said that Lucy's luck was starting to turn around?

The girls had taken the elevator up to the fourth floor for Lucy to see that it was a large library that housed many books, most of them being books that contained many spells for various types of magic, and Shelly let Lucy know that these books were not like the one wielded by Michelle. They could only be read in the library, not able to be checked out at anytime because of Rufus being rather cautious about anyone that secretly wanted to use their magic for evil purposes, and he had also used his Memory-Make Magic to install hidden cameras in the books to track any thieves that tried to warp away with them.

Clearly knowing that she would not need to read any books while being in the Sabertooth guild, Lucy simply paid attention to Shelly as the elevator reached the fifth floor. This place was simply a dark hallway with columns of torches lighting the way, and Lucy looked a bit scared while she held her new friend's hand for safety. This was the hallway for S-Class mages only, as Shelly told Lucy, and there was only a wooden board with S-Class jobs at the very end of it. This room also had hidden cameras in the board where the jobs were posted, keeping them only for the S-Class mages, and anyone caught stealing one would be at risk of expulsion from the guild.

With that little visit now done, Shelly took her new friend up to the sixth floor to see a place known as the Chilled Floor. This is where people could play video games, play a fun game of billiards, watch television, listen to music, and there was also a bowling alley. Lucy also saw a large snack bar right across from the ice cream parlor, and there was also a dessert shop near the gift shop. Really, this guild had so many rooms for almost anything. Lucy found it to be a really great place, and she really did not even want to leave. If Lucy had to compare Sabertooth to Fairy Tail in terms of style and fun, she would probably say that her old guild could not hold a candle to her new one.

Their business on the sixth floor was now done while Shelly told Lucy that the Chilled Floor did not mean that she could slack off from doing at least one job per day, and the tour took the blonde girl up to the seventh floor. Only the museum of the Aqua Resort was here, having many portraits of various spells, and this room had been created by Rogue's suggestion to give the guild a bit of an artistic feel. There were even paintings of him and Frosch smiling happily together, and there was even a portrait of Rogue in his Shadow Drive form. Lucy was also surprised that Rogue was not with the team in Celadon, but Shelly let her know that he was out on a job with Yukino right now.

The eighth and final floor for the left elevator would take Lucy up to a circular room with light blue walls with the wooden floor being covered in azure carpeting, and there was a fancy brown chair behind a fancy brown desk. There were also some bookcases in this room as well while a pot of six flowers in the rainbow's six colors stood on the ledge in front of the left window of the office, and Lucy smiled happily from seeing so much light in this room. It had been similar to the light she saw underwater, only having the warmth of sunlight as the main difference, and she could only sigh happily as Shelly let her know that this was Sting's office.

"Well, Lucy, we shall get some lunch after we are finished here. By the way, the rooms for the guild members and tourists can be found by going into the the elevator situated to the right of the reception desk. That's why many of the hallways on either side of the resort reached dead ends, as you must have seen when you used the ID card to find your room on the eighth floor, and Sting doesn't prefer things to intersect like that. Your next mission with us shall start tomorrow, but Sting told me that I must give you a new guild mark while him and Lector relax in the pool." Shelly explained to Lucy in a kind manner while gently rubbing the back of her right hand, smirking calmly as the pink mark soon became effaced.

Lucy responded in a sweet manner while bowing her head for a moment to show respect, simply showing the back of her right hand to Shelly for the symbolism of truly changing guilds, "I'm glad that we'll go eat soon, Shelly. It felt so good to be out on a job with nakama that really care for me, since most of the people in Fairy Tail did not even really care about how I would feel to find out that Natsu was with Lisanna, and you're more awesome than Erza. At least you probably won't go crazy about someone stepping on strawberry cake, since you might just freeze them for a few minutes. You must be a very powerful Water Demon Slayer, too."

Shelly pulled out a stamp and color kit from her desk, before walking around the desk to be standing only a few centimeters away from Lucy, and the brown-eyed girl told her new black-haired ally that she wanted the insignia to be on the back of her right hand in the color of amethyst purple. Shelly stamped the guild mark on the back of Lucy's right hand, and the blonde girl hugged her friend when she noticed that the insignia of Sabertooth had now taken the place of her Fairy Tail symbol. It was a nice way of letting Natsu that she had switched teams, since he had replaced her spot on his team because of his love for Lisanna.

Since there was not much else to do, aside from telling Lucy that the basement floor of the resort could only be accessed by the people who were scientifically doing research on magic, Shelly hugged back for a moment before hearing her own stomach growl like Lucy's had done earlier. Tours could certainly make people get hungry, especially when most of the resort had to be visited, and Shelly was delighted to possibly eat cheese pizza with the person who could be her new best friend. Lucy also felt pretty happy about the fact that she would get to learn from Shelly, happy to be going on jobs with her and training while Sting would be there as well, and Lucy had confidence in her brown eyes while wanting to do her best.

As Shelly and Lucy were now headed down the elevator to get some lunch, the blonde girl had turned around for a moment to look at some flowers on Sting's desk. They were red roses, looking wilted like he had forgotten to water them, and Lucy had gone over to the three flowers to try helping them in some way. Suddenly, upon touching a few of the petals, they began to be surrounded by a green aura. Lucy looked shocked from seeing this, wondering if she had just done something wrong, but the blonde girl had just used a non-spell ability of Plant Demon Slayer Magic. The flowers quickly perked up, looking revitalized with life, and Lucy giggled happily from seeing their beauty.

She still thought about the flowers that Sting had given her, having put them in her room a few moments before Shelly took her on a tour of the Sabertooth guild, and the pink tulips smelled really lovely. They smelled like cherry ice cream, something that Lucy really loved to eat, and these red roses gave off the scent of strawberries. These two flavors truly did smell good together, both having heavenly aromas that could make a person feel happy when they were down, and Lucy blushed a light shade of pink while running back to the elevator where Shelly waited for her. Could it be a sign from fate that Sting had given Lucy some flowers that complimented his own?

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, back at Fairy Tail...<strong>

Natsu and the rest of his team had gotten back to the guild, after having lunch in an attempt to calm their minds from going crazy over the fact that Lucy was still missing, but Erza and Gray were still wanting to find their blonde friend. There was really no way of truly even knowing if Lucy had been the winner of that contest, since she could've just taken a long train ride to a distant job, but then that didn't make much sense because Lucy would never go far out to places that were very dangerous. Of course, the ironic twist in all this was that Lucy had gone far away from Natsu.

Gray still found the need to ignore Natsu while the group sat together at a table, mostly because the fire dragon slayer had really messed things up by cheating on a nice girl like Lucy, and not even a death glare from Erza could soothe any of the tension in the air. Lisanna had gotten a cookies and cream milkshake from the bar, since this was one of the things that Natsu loved to share with her, and the glass was large enough for them both to share the delicious treat that had two straws in it. Natsu had only drank a little bit of it right now, through, and Lisanna revealing Natsu's affair had really put a dent in his plans.

He had not told Gray or Erza about the fact that he kicked Lucy off of the team, knowing that would really get them both pissed off at him for making a big move like that to keep his love with Lisanna intact, and it had seemed weird to him how he could remember faintly picking up on Lucy's scent two days ago. It was almost like she had been in the guild at the same time that he was eating that large ice cream cake with Lisanna, possibly nearby to hear every word that the pink-haired male had spoken to his second girlfriend, and that would make even more of a dent in Natsu's plans to have people keep his affair secret from Lucy.

If she had somehow heard that he was going to kick her off of the team to replace her with Lisanna, meaning that someone else could've given in to their guilt for her to know such crucial info, then it was pretty obvious that Lucy would have left Fairy Tail to avoid Natsu causing her anymore harm. He did not know that she had actually heard him and Lisanna talking about her, both of them seeming pretty happy about how their team would have more strength and love, but did someone else really have the loose lips to be a total tipster to Lucy for her to not be blindsided and used like a naive pawn?

Natsu looked around to see that Gajeel and Juvia had come back from their jobs while Laxus was just getting back from a task that he had to do in the faraway town of Vermilion, so that made it hard to guess who had tipped off Lucy. Wendy and Carla were still out on a job right now, since they had let Mira know that it would be taking place in the faraway town of Viridian, and Natsu had heard a little rumor about big-mouthed people being in that town. They were known as Team Rocket, a criminal organization that sold Holder Magic and Caster Magic for profits in black markets around Fiore, so maybe one of the grunts had been spying on Natsu because he was a threat. Maybe they overheard his conversation with Lisanna, and possibly decided to tell Lucy about his cheating ways.

He exclaimed in an angry manner, looking very stern about the fact that a bunch of bad guys were trying to mess up his devious plans, "Of course, it all makes sense now! Lucy got kidnapped by grunts from Team Rocket, and those guys had the nerve to let her know that I was talking to Lisanna about kicking her off of the team! I bet they even smelled like Lucy two days ago to spy on me and my sweet love while we wanted to have a private conversation! Those guys crossed the line by screwing up our plans, Lisanna, and we'll make them pay!"

Erza and Gray both interrupted at the same time, glaring at the fire dragon slayer while they had heard every word of his speech, "Natsu, you flaming idiot. You kicked our good friend off of the team without even telling us about it?! Of all the stupid moves you could make, this has to be the worst! You should prepare for pain."

Upon hearing that he should get ready for them to beat him down in retaliation for kicking Lucy off of the team without their say in it, Natsu simply grinned at them in a sheepish manner before running out of the guild at a fast pace. He really should've known that loose lips could sink ships, especially shipping pairings that many people in Fairy Tail had really liked, and his assumption about Team Rocket being involved was way off. Bad karma was certainly coming after him in the form of a scarlet-haired woman wielding a spiky sword, as well as a black-haired ice mage that was ready to freeze him solid for getting rid of their friend from the team.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 4? Did you like it? Sorry if there was not much StiCy, but the next chapter shall have more of it! Lucy now has Plant Demon Slayer Magic, which she shall test out in her first real battle as a mage of Sabertooth, and will Sting be impressed? Does Gray get shocked when other people try taking the blame, instead of Natsu and Lisanna getting the hate? Standby for the update!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>What Natsu Discarded, Sting Shall Cherish<strong>

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><p>The next day, Lucy had woken up in her beautiful room to see that the sunlight was letting its rays of warmth shine down on to her face. The sunrise's light came in through the windows of her room, giving it a pretty bright feeling, and the blonde girl yawned a bit while she proceeded to raise her arms high above her head. Lucy sighed a bit as she stretched her body out to not have tons of tension in her muscles, wanting to be ready for the next job that she would have to do with her new friends, and she was hoping that it would take place in a town that was cool like Celadon.<p>

Two hours after she had eaten pizza with fries in the food court yesterday with Shelly, happy to know that the lunch was definitely high-class, Lucy had been directed to the hot springs where the female mages of Sabertooth had been bathing. She was very glad that there weren't any pervy guys trying to peep at her, since Shelly was a quick reactor who could freeze any guys that attempted to be sneaky, and Lucy had enjoying a relaxing soak in the hot water. It felt just as great as when she had gone down the warp puddle to end up in the exact same hot spring, and the warm feeling had really made her worries go away for the rest of the day.

Lucy was also glad that she could talk about anything with her friend while they soaked in the water, despite the fact that her adventures back in Fairy Tail weren't exactly full of joy, and Lucy was feeling happy to have a mentor that really cared for her. Erza had been her mentor while she was in Fairy Tail, before Natsu had chosen to have an affair, and Lucy thought that there was actually a true bond between them. However, she could only frown a bit upon seeing that her trust had truly been misplaced. Lucy always thought of Erza as being the older sister that would tell her when something important was going on, but she didn't exactly do that when Natsu decide to inform the guild of his cheating ways.

That was really where the pain was coming from, actually. Lucy had been so loyal to Natsu, trying to be the best girlfriend in the world to him, and he had broken the trust that they shared. She was always giving him a wonderful kiss on the lips when he would barge into her home with Happy, showing the fire dragon slayer that their love was hot like the flames that he could create, but Natsu had just kept her in the dark while he truly loved Lisanna. Lucy had never even gotten to really ask anyone about what was going on, since they would not even talk to her, and she got out of bed while just wanting to be rid of the pain.

She truly was psyched up to be in a new guild, especially since this was the day for her to actually find out that she could use Plant Demon Slayer Magic, and Lucy just wanted to have a great vacation at the Sabertooth guild while having the enjoyment of being on jobs with her new friends. It was still a mystery to her about how she had won a contest that she did not even enter, making her think that the mailman delivered that envelope to the wrong person, but Lucy was now only here for her third day. Besides, this was the other side of Fiore. There was so much for her to see, so many places for her to explore, and she just had to enjoy all of the exciting moments that were going to come her way.

Lucy really just had to try and focus on the things that made her happy, needing to just get her old life out of her head for a while, and she took off her pink pajamas to start off her day with a hot bath. She walked into the bathroom of her dorm room, seeing the beautiful red tiled floor that went well with the orange walls, and Lucy smiled a bit while opening up the black cabinet to see that this guild had almost every flavor of body wash in the world. There were so many bottles of body wash, along with many expensive-looking bottles of perfume in different scents, and there were even tubes of lipstick in different colors. Seriously, how could this place not be fancy?

She turned the faucet in the bathtub all the way to the right, letting the hot water run from the pipe, and Lucy looked a bit curious to see it filling up quicker than the water from her apartment. That's because Water Magic was put into the resort's water supply, adjusted to the temperature of the waters in the hot springs on a daily basis, and Lucy gently stepped into the bathtub while it was filling up. She sat down when it filled up to the top of the tub, turning the faucet to the left for it to cease with sending water out of the pipe, and Lucy simply had to relax. Her body still felt a bit groggy, since she was not 100 percent awake yet, and Lucy laid down in the water while she sunk into it.

Shelly and the other experts in Water Magic had also used their Water Magic to make the water hot for the resort's water supply, meaning that Lucy could breathe in this water, and she sighed happily while raising her arms up out of the water to grab a blue bottle of body wash that had fallen on to the floor by accident, and Lucy poured the soapy substance into the bathtub. It created blue bubbles in the bathtub, smelling sweet like blueberries, and the steam helped the water's heat make Lucy feel so good. She even blushed a light shade of pink from enjoying the warmth, since it really calmed her mind.

This almost felt like paradise, as the hot water gave kisses to her skin, but Lucy knew that she couldn't stay in the bathtub forever. After all, Shelly would eventually knock on her door to greet the blonde mage on this fine morning. Lucy smiled happily at the sight of the water now going down into the drain, taking a few steps out of the bathtub when it had gone down to being half-full, and she was met with the sound of someone sliding their ID card in the slot that was next to her door to gain entry into her room. Why would Shelly want to visit her so soon, and how did she have access to Lucy's room?

As Lucy walked out of the bathroom, she had grabbed a white towel to put it around her body while she would now have to pick out her clothes for the day. She let out a soft groan from now being hungry again, however, and Lucy gasped in shock when she was met with the presence of Sting now being in her room. Lucy blushed more while she wanted to scream, thinking that Sting came in here to peep at her bare body, and she was about to kick him out for intruding into her dorm room like how Natsu would break into her old apartment for food sometimes.

The blonde girl told Sting in a stern tone, her cocoa brown eyes narrowed like she was going to punch him in the face, "Sting, get out of my room! I don't like it when guys try to see me naked, especially when I don't know what you'll do to me, and you are so rude to come in here! I should ask Shelly to freeze you solid for intruding in here like how that jerk Natsu would break into my apartment back in Magnolia, and just knowing that you broke in here makes me have to think of his devious face! I just hate him so much..."

Sting assured her in a calm manner while smiling slightly, trying to hide the fact that he was blushing from seeing a cute girl in only a towel, "Once again, there is no need for you to yell. Rogue and I are the only ones who have the golden ID cards for the guild master and the assistant to enter any room when we have business with people, but I didn't just come here to tell you about the job we'll be doing. Shelly told me how you healed the red roses on my desk, and I wanted to thank you for making them look beautiful. I guess cuteness is good for many things, even though Minerva thought that anything cute was useless last year."

Lucy gasped slightly from hearing Sting say that she made his roses look beautiful like how she had let the sunlight nurture her pink tulips on the window ledge, and hearing him say that she was cute had made Lucy feel some warmth in her chest. Natsu had never really thanked her for doing anything, since he had just been using her as a tool, so receiving praise from Sting had made small tears form in Lucy's eyes. This guild had already been so kind to her, not being so secretive like Fairy Tail, and even some of the other people who met Lucy yesterday had thought she was cool because Shelly told them that the new girl helped her stop a dangerous thief.

She ran into Sting's arms while crying a bit, glad that he had really seen her as an asset to his team, and Lucy wrapped her arms around his waist while she let out her emotions. Lucy was still hurt by the way that Natsu and the others had treated her, acting like she should not know that the fire dragon's love for her was utterly false, and sobs wracked Lucy's body while she trembled. Sting hugged her gently while he knew that it was always okay for someone to cry when they were feeling down, rubbing her back with his warm left hand, and the white dragon slayer blushed a bit while he gently let his right hand go down her back to feel her soft buns.

He wasn't trying to make any big moves on her, since Sting knew that building chemistry took quite some time, and a feeling of surprise entered his blue eyes when he saw Lucy look up at him while she blushed. He let his left hand gently move around to her face to wipe her tears away, telling the blonde girl to not cry so much because of the fact that tears would ruin a pretty face like hers, and Lucy felt so happy to be in his embrace right now. Even though they were just friends right now, the white dragon slayer's touch had made Lucy feel happy. She knew that she had to get dressed, but it wouldn't do any harm for her to spend a few more moments hugging Sting to feel the genuine warmth that felt beautiful like how his white light looked so pretty.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Since Lucy had not shown up at the guild for a third day in a row, causing some people to assume that something bad had been done to her, Levy thought that some of the mages in Fairy Tail should try searching for the blonde girl while they were out on jobs. Gajeel and Juvia thought that it would be the best move to make, since having many people look in various places would cover more ground, but where would they even start looking? Gajeel thought that they could check out the Haruba Desert, a place that was very far away from the guild, and Lucy might've gone all the way there to do a job or find some peace.

However, it was pretty clear that they did not have to do anything when Fairy Tail's entrance doors opened up to reveal that Erza and Gray walked in with a hostage that had tied up with some iron ropes. They had captured Natsu early this morning, since he took a train to get away from them, and even getting motion sick was worth trying to not let Erza beat the crap out of him for kicking Lucy off of the team. He had gotten off the train seven hours later in a far-off icy town, simply using his Fire Dragon's Roar to propel himself back to Magnolia because he thought that Erza and Gray gave up their search for him, but he was wrong.

Gray had punched Natsu in the face several times, not even caring he flew in through an open window of Lucy's old apartment, and Erza had tied Natsu up while the ice mage held him down. They were not going to keep their interrogation of him from the rest of the guild members, since he had made everyone else keep the secret of his affair from reaching the ears of Lucy, and he had kicked the blonde girl off of them without even asking Erza or Gray for their votes on his decision. Natsu had only cared about what Lisanna thought, since he wanted to make her feel so very loved, and that was really his downfall.

All the blame had to be put on Natsu and Lisanna, since they had been the ones to wreck Lucy's love life, and this situation could've been much different. If Natsu had not been walking to the guild with Lisanna, looking happy like he was having fun with her, then Lucy never would've had any reason to stalk him from afar. She never would've gotten suspicious, had the fire dragon slayer and the white-haired girl hid their affair in a more clever manner at the time, but they forgot to plan out what they would do for one large dilemma. They could not hide their affair from fate, the main thing that helped Natsu and Lisanna make enough bad choices for Lucy to see that she was being cheated on.

Lisanna had ran over to Erza and Gray for them to know that they shouldn't be so harsh, having concern in her blue eyes while she told them to not drag Natsu across the ground like how they had been doing, but her words only made Gray narrow his dark blue eyes while he stepped away from the trio for a moment. While he did feel disgusted by the actions of Natsu and Lisanna, the ice mage also knew that Erza had be chastised as well. Gray and a few others like Juvia were not aware of Natsu's plan, as well as not really caring about how much he loved Lisanna, but hurting Lucy's feelings was certainly going a bridge too far.

"Look, everyone. It's pretty clear that Natsu messed up by cheating on Lucy, but him and Lisanna aren't the only ones at fault. Erza, I really don't know if trusting you is possible at this point because Lucy saw you as an older sister. She could go to you when she needed advice about anything, but I kept noticing almost every day that you would shut her out when she would ask about why Natsu was being so shady behind her back. You knew that she was being cheated on, but said nothing. Cana, you're also at fault. You were Lucy's best friend, but not letting her know that she was being used is like stabbing her in the back." Gray explained in a stern tone to the guild members, clearly appalled more by the actions of Lucy's close friends than the actions of minor people.

Erza retorted in a calm manner while she turned to face Gray, "Hey, it's not everyone else's fault that Natsu cheated on Lucy. He's the one who caused Lucy to leave Fairy Tail, and he told us that she got kicked off of the team by him. I can now see why Lucy won't show up to the guild, and it's because she's not in Magnolia. She must be crying and alone somewhere, since guilds like Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus are far from us, and it would be bad to also think that she's lost in the wilderness. We should just try to retrace Lucy's steps for a scent trail of any kind, and then go searching from where the trail ends or diverges."

Gray let her know that there was no trail to go on, since it seemed like Lucy had just vanished outside of her former home, and there was no way of finding out where she was. If Lisanna had just stayed away from Lucy's relationship with Natsu, then none of this drama would be going on right now. Even if she had known not to cross the line of getting with a guy who had a girlfriend, didn't Natsu feel really bored with Lucy? He possibly would've gone to Lisanna on his own at some point, but the result would still be the same. Lucy would be getting cheated on, and the fact that someone leaked the secret to Lucy was also quite upsetting.

Cana knew that she had never told Lucy about the times that she saw Natsu and Lisanna kissing at the bar while Lucy would be out doing jobs on her own, and Mira had been smart enough to ignore Lucy when she would keep begging for drinks at the bar. In fact, she had even thrown a chocolate sundae on Lucy while Lisanna would sigh happily as she came into the bar with Natsu. That was just meant to throw off her attention while Lisanna would part with her boyfriend, and Mira would happily give her a chocolate sundae with a cherry on top. Even Erza would share her cake with Lisanna while giving nothing to Lucy, so that definitely showed which side they had taken.

Juvia and Wendy were the only girls to never ignore Lucy while she had been in Fairy Tail, mainly because they didn't initially know Lisanna, and the Rain Woman sat alone at a table while she would take Gray's side on this matter. The people who had kept their mouths shut about Natsu's affair were all at fault, not even being real friends to Lucy, and gave them all stern glares for trying to be against Gray. Real friends would be honest to someone that was getting betrayed, wanting to keep them from getting severely hurt, and no one had been around to help Lucy see the truth about Natsu. Juvia had not known that he was dating Lisanna, until Gray had just let the less tuned in guild members know what the drama was about.

In order to keep a large fight from breaking out, since Master Makarov was out at a meeting right now, Juvia told Erza and the other girls to just shut up. She also wanted Natsu to keep Lucy's name out of his mouth, since the blue-haired woman found cheating to be really deplorable, and Juvia had a stern look in her blue eyes while telling Erza that it would be hypocritical of her to search for Lucy because of the fact that the blonde mage had been ignored by Titania. She also brought up the points of Lucy probably not wanting to be found right now, due to how she was treated in Fairy Tail, and it would be smart to look for her after a year had gone by.

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><p><strong>In Celadon Town, near the fountain...<strong>

Lucy and Sting had been joined by Shelly on this mission, even though the task would simply be easy, and all that trio really had to do was just get rid of some beehives that were on the fruit trees. They had kept the residents from picking any fruit, the bees stinging them harshly to deliver pain to anyone who was thought to be after their precious honey, and even using magic to knock the beehives down from the trees was dangerous because that would cause a deadly swarm of bees to buzz in an angry rage while they would chase after people to cause them great pain.

The experts with perfume also took notice of their sweet scents not being able to make the bees leave the trees, since their honey also had a sweet smell that negated the perfume's lovely aromas of temptation, and there was really only one way to handle a bunch of pesky bugs that wouldn't fall to the ground. Sting smirked in a confident manner while he thought of using his Holy Ray attack to decimate the bees, blinding the others with light as a side effect, but Shelly let him know that trying to strike all of the bees from one hive would just provoke their allies that had made beehives in the other trees.

Taking down the tiny foes with brute force would prove to be quite difficult, especially since they could move fast while also hurting people with their stingers that could poison people, and the black-haired woman also narrowed her aqua blue eyes when she knew that freezing them would just provoke them more. Even if she could drown them in water by taking most of it from the fountain that was surrounded on all hexagonal corners by six trees, they would just fly away quick enough to evade any large moves that Shelly would be using.

Since there was a huge risk with having the bees evade a vortex of water that would be large, as well as there being the bad possibility of them all not being hit by thin beams of light, Shelly put her left index finger to her lips for a moment while she noticed that Sting might use Holy Nova on the trees to obliterate the bees entirely. If attacking them was not a good option right now, couldn't a certain blonde mage try to disorient them with her new Plant Demon Slayer Magic? Shelly turned around to face Lucy, making her look curious about what her friend was thinking of doing, and the brown-eyed girl was told to simply imagine some unique spells of Plant Magic.

Shelly told her that she healed Sting's flowers by using Plant Demon Slayer Magic, something that she had gained from being constricted by Michelle's vines, and Lucy gasped in shock while remembering that those vines were gently dripping with energy that went into her pores. This new magical power was flowing through her body, making Lucy really feel good right now, and Sting also jumped in on the chat to let her know that this type of magic gave her the freedom to use plants in any way seeming to be within the rules of magic for a Demon Slayer. The same rules applied for a Dragon Slayer and a God Slayer, but a Demon Slayer was the most versatile of the trio.

"You're saying that I have Plant Demon Slayer Magic now, and I get to create many moves with it? Michelle's vines gave me this new magic, and that's how I made Sting's red roses heal so quickly? Well, since it seems like you guys can create your moves by thinking about them, then I just have to come up with a pretty clever idea to send these bees flying away to prevent them from hurting all of these people in Celadon Town. If we can't hit the beehives, though, then maybe we just have to hit everything else around the fountain." Lucy asked in a shocked manner, before calming down a bit to explain her strange idea to the other members of her team.

As Lucy knew that she had to complete this job for the sake of protecting people while also wanting to secretly show off her new magic for Sting, the blonde girl closed her cocoa brown eyes while she focused on the mental image of the first spell that she was going to create. She even thought of how powerful this move would be, as well as giving it a little side effect to surprise her friends, and Lucy clenched her fists tightly while she opened her eyes. They were now filled with a full amount of confidence, since she now had a move to get the job done, and it was known as Plant Demon's Bullet Seeds.

This spell caused Lucy to shoot out six green seeds from her mouth, letting them all hit a tree, and the seeds tilted off of that tree to hit the others. They were increasing in speed while they kept bouncing off of the trees like pinballs, as well as increasing in power, and Sting took notice of the fact that a pale green aura was now surrounding each tree. Every time a seed hit a tree, the aura would grow a bit more in size. The seeds also grew in size while they were continuously being ricocheted off of the trees, almost like they had a chain effect to them, and Lucy clapped her hands once in a soft manner to finish this move.

Right after Lucy had clapped her hands, the six trees exploded in a massive pale green blasts of Plant Demon Slayer Magic! The blasts formed the six corners of a hexagon while they had destroyed the trees, killing the bees with their tremendous power as well, and the green smoke was also able to disorient the bugs while the power of the blasts had taken them down. Sting and Shelly both looked awestruck at this pretty cool spell, definitely sensing its high amount of power, and the smoke had faded away quickly to reveal that the trees were decimated to being pieces of tree bark that were scattered all around the fountain.

Lucy had thought of making a second spell to pick up all of the debris while it would be known as Flora Heal, and this move would allow her to simply place her hands on the ground to send tiny fruit seeds into the earth for them to quickly assist the trees in regrowing. They would be made again in a heartbeat, having the fruit on them as well, but there was one risky side effect. If the trees were harmed in any way, even by having a small mark made on them, they would explode in large pale green blasts of energy. That would certainly help the environmentalists get their message through to people about not killing plants, right?

However, the spell would be bad to keep intact in a town like Celadon. Lucy didn't want any innocent people to get hurt by what she done, so she simply let Shelly freeze the pieces of tree bark with her ice to watch them all shatter into dust. That was certainly a good assist spell, just like how Flora Heal could be used to make some explosive walls, and Lucy smiled happily from knowing that the mission was now complete. She had not only gotten rid of the bees, but seeing Sting smile at her in a proud manner made the Celestial Spirit Wizard blush a light shade of pink. He was glad to have her on his team, since she was so feisty like Shelly, and Sting was also happy to see that the client had left the reward of 700,000 jewels for each mage in bags that sat in a nearby flowerbed.

"Lucy, you are so very cute and fierce. I've never known that someone from Fairy Tail could be so smart, but it looks like Natsu threw out a lovely little pot of flowers. You smell so very sweet like the blueberry shampoo you used, and your personality balances things out. While Shelly can be cold, you seem pretty warm. Rogue is calm while I'm confident, and our team is gonna be good. By the way, when it comes to smarts, you and I might have something to talk about." Sting told her in a calm tone while smirking, making Lucy blush cutely while she found his beautiful blue eyes to be rather enchanting.

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><p><strong>One hour later, at the resort's beach...<strong>

After getting back from the town of Celadon, Lucy had headed straight to the fitting rooms on the guild's first floor for the purpose of changing her clothes. She got out of her purple cheerleader top that had a black skirt to match, the Sabertooth emblem being white while it was in the center of her top, and Lucy blushed a light shade of pink while going over to her closet for her first trip to Sabertooth's beach. She brought out a lacy purple bra with lacy purple underwear to match, since purple was a very cute color, and Lucy also kept her hair down while being glad that she had neatly folded her beach clothes into the skirt pockets of her cheerleader outfit. Lucy also had a pink towel with her, too.

She left the fitting rooms quickly, leaving behind her clothes from earlier, and Lucy walked down a hallway with golden walls and red carpeting that would take her straight outside to the beach or the nearby hot springs. She was hastily met with sunlight shining down on her while smiling in awe at how the beach was so beautiful. It was quite large with beautiful golden sand that was pretty hot, and some people were relaxing on the beach while four girls were playing volleyball. Some of the other beautiful girls ate ice cream while others were playing in the water, and some of the guys were even surfing on the large waves that rose up from the ocean.

Lucy walked down the stairs that led to the sandy beach, giggling with joy as she could smell hot dogs being cooked on a grill that was far down on the left side of the shore, and the sun's heat made the brown-eyed girl wish that she had brought her sunscreen along. She navigated her way to an empty spot near the grassy hills that sat on the small cliffs overlooking the sandy beach, and Lucy spread out her pink towel before putting it down on the ground. She still lacked sunscreen, a vital tool that would keep her from getting sunburned, and Lucy also wished that she had a cool drink with her right now to fully enjoy her free time at the beach.

While she was planning to go back into the resort and go up to the third floor for the purpose of simply buying a bottle of cola, Lucy's plans were brought to a halt when she saw Sting swimming up to the shore with Lector on his back. The wind had accidentally blown the red Exceed into a large wave while he had been trying to grab Sting's beach ball that fell into the water while they were playing a simple game of catch, but the white dragon slayer did not care about the ball. He had quickly jumped into the water to find Lector, knowing that his friend couldn't swim, and Lector had luckily held his breath long enough for Sting to find him.

When Lector had reached the shore with his best friend, he immediately flew off towards the resort to get into a window of the third floor for a bottle of cola to put his mind at ease. This left Sting alone for a while, meaning that the umbrella and two chairs that he set up had now gone to waste, and there were twelve bottles of cola on the little table that was in between the two beach chairs. Sting had looked a bit disappointed that Lector would not be coming back to beach with him anytime soon, but the white dragon slayer blushed a bit when he turned to his left to see the sight of Lucy in a purple bikini.

He had never thought that a girl could look so good while also being so nice, her body looking like it needed a bit of a tan, and Sting did not even know that Lucy was blushing as well while she saw him in only his white swim trunks. Sting began to flex his muscles for her, even letting her see water sizzle as it touched his rock-hard abdominals, and he also had quite a sexy chest. Lucy had never guessed that Sting could look so buff and hot underneath his cool clothes, looking even sexier than Natsu, and she blushed more at him while ignoring the sunlight make some burns on her body.

"Hello there, Lucy. I see that you're looking good on the fine beach of Sabertooth, but it seems like you don't have any sunscreen. I could help you apply some to your back, unless you think I'll be a pervert about it. If you don't want me to, then at least relax in the shade with me while enjoying some of my delicious cola." Sting told her in a flirty tone, letting her see his cocky grin while his blue eyes looked at her in a relaxed manner.

She replied aloud in a kind manner while grabbing her pink towel to put it under the shade of Sting's umbrella, "I would love for you to put some sunscreen on my body, Sting, and you have such gentle hands. I love how your touch feels so warm and kind, as if you care for me. I'd love to stay in Sabertooth with a handsome guy like you."

Even though it had been three days since she got cheated on by Natsu, Sting could tell that Lucy enjoyed the two jobs that they did together. She wasn't crazily falling for him like many other girls would, which made her so unique, and Sting chuckled a bit at the sight of the blonde girl looking shocked at the fact that she had been thinking aloud. She had admired the way that he was so proud of her today, glad that she now had two spells of Plant Demon Slayer Magic, and seeing Sting save Lector a few minutes ago had made her see that he was a really awesome guy. Sting's awesome attitude really made him be better than Natsu in many ways, too.

When Lucy had laid down with her back on the hot sand, Sting pulled out a white bottle of sunscreen from the left pocket of his white shorts. He got down on his knees while opening the bottle, smiling kindly while pouring the sunscreen on his hands, and the blue-eyed male rubbed Lucy's back gently to soothe her from the sun's rays. He then rubbed the sunscreen on her legs and feet, making Lucy sigh happily from feeling his gentle touch, and she turned over to be looking up at Sting. He put more sunscreen in his hands while he rubbed her stomach, tickling her a little bit, and Natsu had never treated her so well. Sting was good with making a woman happy, was he not?

As Sting rubbed the sunscreen down on Lucy's legs, before he wanted to put some on her face, he got up for a moment to go get two bottles of cola. Sting had not let Lucy know this, but he had felt her press against him while she had only been wearing a towel this morning. He could feel her soft melons be up against his chest, making him seem warmed up by her beauty, and Lucy was also really nice. She had definitely shown off her strength today, even taking down some large trees, and Sting also had to admit that Lucy matched Shelly in terms of beauty. One thing was more of an upcoming fact than an opinion up for debate, though. Sting narrowed his blue eyes at the thought of Natsu, wanting to take him down for being a cheater, but Sting's best option right now was to heal Lucy's pain and make her see that she was admired.

* * *

><p><strong>How was Chapter 5? Did you like it? The chemistry between Sting and Lucy is now building, and the feelings between them will get stronger as the story progresses. Lucy will also learn more spells of Plant Demon Slayer Magic, but they won't deliver a one-hit KO to everything. As for Natsu, let's just say that the next chapter is where he might get pretty stunned. Lisanna will be happy, though. Standby for the update!<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>First Date, Part 1<strong>

* * *

><p>Lucy had found herself running through a vast desert in the daytime, the harsh sunlight shining down on to the golden sand, and the blonde mage had to wonder why she was even here. No winds were blowing at all, causing this desert to be a very hot place, and Lucy screamed in pain from seeing that she was barefoot while walking through this place. Lucy had not even taken a job in the desert, since Sting had figured that she was not ready for that kind of terrain yet, and the white dragon slayer had told her that they would go there when Lucy was actually ready.<p>

She wiped some sweat off of her forehead, perspiring while it seemed like there was a place in the desert that she had to reach, and Lucy still winced in pain from the hot sand. It was unclear as to why she was even here, not wanting to be alone in such a hot desert, and the blonde mage did not even have the ten golden Celestial Spirit Keys with her to get some soothing relief from water that Aquarius could try to find. She also knew that Plant Demon Slayer Magic would not work in such a hot place, since plants other than cacti would end up burning to the ground.

The blonde mage panted heavily while feeling utterly exhausted, falling down on to the golden sand that was hot enough to fry an egg or toast waffles on, and she could only look up at the sun while noticing that it was making a beautiful white light. That was the same color of light used by Sting, since he possessed white light for his White Dragon Slayer Magic, and Lucy could only sigh happily while blushing a light shade of pink as she thought of the cocky male. He was such a nice guy, caring enough to put sunscreen on her back when they were at the beach, and Lucy liked his attitude.

He was so different from Natsu, so much more gentle and calm with her, and Lucy smiled happily while she remembered how Sting looked so buff when he got out of the water. He had been caring enough to save Lector from drowning in the sea, knowing that he couldn't risk losing one of his friends, and Lucy had been blushing happily while knowing that she loved guys with compassion. Along with having a good heart, Sting also had such great muscles. He had definitely let her see that he worked out on a daily basis, and the calmness from his blue eyes made Lucy feel that he was the perfect guy for her to be dating.

However, before Lucy could even try to find a way out of this desert, she looked shocked while hearing something like a stampede behind her. The blonde girl turned around slowly to see that Sting looked confident while he ran through the desert in only his white swim trunks, kicking up tons of sand while he was running towards her at high speeds, and he was also perspiring while his body was wet with sweat. If this was the type of workout that Sting did every morning, then Lucy would love to watch him for many hours. She couldn't react fast enough to get out of his way, though, and Sting slammed into her while knocking her down into the sand as well. They soon fell a little deep down into the sand while it began to cover the backs of Sting and Lucy like a warm blanket that kept them together, and Lucy had only been wearing a white towel for some reason.

Sting had grabbed Lucy's arms while being on top of her, preventing her from moving while they were under the sand together, and Sting pressed his body against hers while he had pinned down the blonde girl. He would not let Lucy move at all while he smirked at her, the hot sand making both of them sweat more, and Sting gently rubbed Lucy's arms while he could see her blushing a light shade of pink. She felt like kissing him right now, or even giving a kiss to his rock-hard abs that made her stomach feel good while he was on top of her. Lucy sighed happily in this moment, and Sting could see that she let the desert's heat make her feel so warmed up.

"I caught up to you already, Lucy, and it looks like you can't outrun me in our training. You must've picked out that towel in an attempt to seduce me, and it really worked. I think that you're a really great girl, and I want to help your heart heal from the pain. You're just so cute, Lucy, and your skills make me so glad that I let you in my guild. This White Dragon Slayer of magic purifies anything, and the sandstorms will open up air holes for us. Let's just rest down here together." Sting told her in a kind tone, his hands moving from her arms to get under the towel to gently rub her chest.

She responded in a relaxed manner, blushing more while feeling Sting be gentle with her two soft mounds, "I'm glad that you want to help me move on from Natsu, Sting, and I actually am starting to have an attraction towards you. You're so muscular and kind, as well as being so hot, and being down here with you feels so good. I don't even mind the hot sand, since the weight of it will keep us down here for a while. We can make the best of it, though, and we'll do it by being fully bare. If air holes do open up, the breezes will make every part of us feel so good."

As Sting knew that the sand had trapped them both down here, letting them both rest in the depths of the desert, he simply let his legs help him slip out of his white swim trunks for Lucy to blush even more. She was glad that Sting agreed with her idea, something that Natsu hated to do, and there was love in her cocoa brown eyes while she opened up her towel for the white dragon slayer to see her beautiful body. He exhaled soft breaths of air against her chest, making Lucy move her legs around in a pleased manner, and this felt like heaven.

She wanted to let Sting know that her love for him was building, growing like a lovely flame that had been gaining heat, and Lucy smiled kindly at Sting while she gently closed her eyes. Lucy also put her lips together in a sweet manner, ready to share a kiss with Sting while he would also enter inside of her at the same time, and they would both be connected to each other. Sting had closed his eyes while he was about to kiss Lucy's lips, but was this really happening? If it was, then why on Earthland did the smell of pancakes reach the desert while some snapping sounds could be heard in this fantasy?

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><p><strong>In reality...<strong>

Sting had snapped his fingers in Lucy's face once more, hoping for some kind of a response from her, and the white dragon slayer told her that there was a stack of chocolate chip pancakes in front of her. He had gotten breakfast for her at the Sabertooth guild, having gone to the pancake machine to get some pancakes that were filled with the finest chocolate that Fiore had to offer, and Sting had also put a perfect swirl of whip cream at the top of the stack for his blonde companion. He wanted her to enjoy the breakfast he had gotten for her, and it was another one of his ways of flirting with Lucy.

The blonde girl blinked twice while she had been brought back to reality by Sting snapping his fingers in her face, and the heavenly aroma of the chocolate chip pancakes had made Lucy begin to smile happily. Grabbing the golden knife and golden fork on the table in front of her, Lucy began to cut her pancakes into pieces that could be eaten easily. She used the fork to pick up a few of the pieces, getting some of the yummy chocolate chips as well, and Lucy felt like she was tasting the greatest pancakes in the world while she was chewing her food.

This nice breakfast had really helped Lucy feel good on this fine morning, and she was glad that things were going so well in the luxurious resort that doubled as the guild of Sabertooth. An entire week had now passed by, since she had gone down the Water Warp puddle in Magnolia to end up in the town of Cerulean, and Sting had been helping Lucy train hard to improve her Plant Demon Slayer Magic. She had been getting advice from Shelly as well, learning that the spells of a demon slayer could only be used when they responded to the user's emotions, and she also learned that personal growth could also cause her magic to make new spells on its own.

Lucy could eat things like fruits and vegetation to replenish her magical power and stamina when she would be low on them, even able to do that by drinking tea that had leaves in it, but a Plant Demon Slayer was still vulnerable to things like bugs and poison. Fire could also prove to be a real problem for Lucy, but she did have the second spell that allowed her to create explosive trees. Shelly's Water Demon Slayer Magic could power up Lucy's Plant Demon Slayer Magic, making her plants grow larger for some awesome effects, and the blonde mage had to wonder if many kinds of demon slayers existed.

She had hoped that there wouldn't be any motion sickness involved, with that mainly being the reason why Sting was glad to have met Shelly or just walk to nearby towns, and thinking about that certain disadvantage for dragon slayers made her remember how Natsu got 7th place in the Chariot event during last year's Grand Magic Games. Being a demon slayer would have many perks, though, such as the fact that Lucy could interact with her element to do things like finding hidden enemies. She could also heal or speed up the growth of plants to manipulate them in battle, too.

Sting asked Lucy in a calm manner while smiling, having something on his mind that he could use as a step forward to improving the chemistry of their team, "Hey, Lucy. Since I haven't really given you a good tour around Cerulean, would you like to go with me to a new cafe that opened up recently? I hear that they've got some good stuff, but they don't let people go in there alone. Lector is planning on taking that white cat from Fairy Tail to that cafe sometime, so would you go with me to just have a nice time? It'd be a well-deserved reward for working so hard with me, you know."

From hearing his question, the blonde mage immediately turned away while her cheeks were blushing pink. Sting had spoke of taking her on a tour around the town before they went to a cafe to enjoy some time together, and that totally was another way of asking her out on a date. Lucy did not have any of her fashionable dresses available right now to be on a date, but the fact that Sting was wearing his usual attire just meant that she could simply wear what she had put on before coming to the Sabertooth guild today. Even though Lucy was not ready to look for a new relationship, she also knew that a date didn't have to be anything remotely different than simply eating at a cafe with a friend.

She continued to blush pink while turning around to face him, smiling happily and letting out a sigh of attraction while Lucy's beautiful brown eyes met the loving gaze of his charming blue ones, "I would definitely love to go out on a date with you, Sting, and I know that I'll be so happy with you at my side. I'll be your date while we're at the cafe, and I would love to be feeding you a slice of cake while getting to know you. You have very pretty eyes, Sting, and you're like the confident whip cream to the sweet chocolate of my pancakes."

Lucy felt so enchanted by the beauty of Sting's eyes, and the brown-eyed girl checked her clothes in the reflection of a nearby window to make sure that she looked okay for their date. She wore a light blue midriff T-shirt with some blue jeans today, and her orange flat shoes were a nice touch to make her look pretty appealing for a date. Lucy had her beautiful blonde hair down, and she waved it back and forth while being happy that Sting asked her out. She even cheered loud enough about her excitement to get the entire guildhall looking her way, but Lucy did not care. She looked determined to make this a great date, better than any date that she ever went on with Natsu.

Sting smiled calmly at Lucy while he saw how happy she had been to be going on a date with him, and the blue-eyed male told himself that he would get to know Lucy on a deep level. She was so nice, kind, confident, fierce, smart, and those were only a few of the qualities that the white dragon slayer had been looking for in a girl. After they had drank bottles of cola and played in the water at the beach, Lucy had rested in Sting's arms as a way to show him how grateful she was to him for letting her be on his team. Sting really wanted to keep making Lucy feel good, and seeing Lector fly through the resort's entrance doors while smirking proudly had let the user of White Dragon Slayer Magic know that a certain delivery had been done.

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

It had been a whole week since Lucy had even walked into the guild of Fairy Tail, and some people had begun to start asking questions about where she might be. They had always gone through the daily routine of not saying much to her when she entered the guild, keeping Natsu's affair from reaching the ears of Lucy, but the blonde mage's week-long absence had made everyone wonder about what she could be doing. Lucy would not miss a day of going out on a job, since she supposedly still had 70,000 jewels of rent to pay each month, but no one knew about her current situation.

Natsu had continued to make out with Lisanna while they sat down at a table together, and the fire dragon slayer simply thought that Lucy had been avoiding him. He could tell that she was tipped off by someone about his affair with Lisanna, since it would be a logical choice by Lucy to not deal with a cheating ex anymore, but the fire dragon slayer still had yet to find the snitch that told Lucy that she was being nothing more than a worthless pawn on Natsu's chessboard of romance while Lisanna had been a valuable queen. He did not even know that the snitch was him, since Natsu had a big mouth.

Erza and Cana had wanted to search other areas of Fiore, hoping to find Lucy, but Juvia reminded them that they would be nothing more than hypocrites by trying to do something good to cancel out the fact that they were horrible friends to Lucy. Gray had also sided with the Rain Woman on her deal about waiting a year for Lucy's return, having faith that she was still alive somewhere, and the black-haired male was hoping that his friend won that trip to the resort. If she did, which he did not know that his faith in that would be true, then Lucy would be safe from harm while being happy as well.

Natsu and Lisanna had also been eating two large chocolate cakes that were made by Cana, who was running the bar while Mira and Happy had gone to Fairy Hills to pick up a package that was strangely sent there, and the pink-haired male smiled happily at his girlfriend while knowing that they could celebrate the week-long absence of his former lover. Natsu was also planning to throw some huge parties to help Lisanna celebrate their monthly anniversaries of being together, and he had even ordered a bouquet of roses to give her for when they would be sharing a passionate kiss of romance.

He was also hoping that Lucy would get to watch him be in love with the girl who he wanted to be with, and Natsu planned to simply be romantic with Lisanna in front of the blonde mage to make her go crazy with rage. He thought that she would cry over him and get angry about him being with Lisanna, causing a whole scene of drama to unfurl in front of everyone in Fairy Tail, and Natsu would simply laugh it off while people might possibly tell Lucy to grow up. They would want her to either be mature about the matter, or simply leave the parties. Natsu had thought that Lucy was still being weak on missions as well, but his thoughts and some familiar screams were about to tempt fate.

Mira quickly opened Fairy Tail's entrance doors while having a totally shocked look on her face, speaking in a really surprised tone as she had what seemed to be a newspaper in her left hand, "Everyone, you're really not going to believe this! I never thought that this would happen at all, but it looks like we caused the inevitable! I know that love and matchmaking are things that I enjoy, but I never would've guessed that keeping the secret about Natsu and Lisanna would have led up to this! I'm just astounded by what has happened!"

When Erza had gone over to Mira to see why exactly she was freaking out like this, the scarlet-haired woman's first guess was that Lucy had died somewhere. Erza did not want that to happen, and she was very glad to see that wasn't the top news in the paper when she took it from the hands of Mirajane. When the armor-requipping woman had seen the top news for the day, she also could not believe it. Erza looked totally shocked at what she was seeing, and the picture was certainly not lying. It spoke a lot, just like the words about the topic, and this strange incident in the paper made Cana and Gray see what could be so shocking.

The brown-haired woman read aloud while she was also surprised by what was seen in the newspaper, "Last week, the Sabertooth guild did an excellent job of saving the town of Celadon from a dangerous mage named Michelle. They also got rid of the bees in that lovely town as well, and the residents really want to thank Shelly Izumi for using her ice powers to make Michelle chill out. Sting Eucliffe was a good guy to see, but Lucy Heartfilia stole the spotlight when she decimated all six of the harmful trees with a single move. She was very skilled, and she giggled happily in our interview with her."

At that moment, Gray totally could not believe what he had just heard. Lucy had gone all the way to Cerulean Town, a place on the other side of Fiore, and she had helped Sabertooth take down a dangerous mage? He had heard a little rumor about that guild on a job that he did by himself, hearing that it was going to end up being a luxurious place for mages in the town of Cerulean, and that town was surrounded by lovely locations. He narrowed his dark blue eyes at the current circumstances, however, and decided to simply hide the recent info. No one else in Fairy Tail knew how Sabertooth had changed since last year, so he'd leave them in the dark as payback for how they kept Lucy in the dark about Natsu's affair.

While Gray had seemed pretty happy to see a picture of his blonde friend smiling happily while she stood next to Sting, there was one person who was not so pleased. Natsu was a bit angry to hear that his biggest rival chased away a dangerous enemy, but he was more furious at the fact that Lucy had now been called a team member to be associated with those guys from the rival guild of Sabertooth. He did not like them at all, and the fire dragon slayer had to wonder if they were the reason why Lucy hadn't shown up to Fairy Tail in a week. He would be an idiot to go confront her, but he was more of an idiot to fall for an article that Sting himself had typed up at Cerulean's publishing company while Lector had taken the picture when Sting's team was ready to leave the town of Celadon. That was one point of payback by trolling Natsu, right?

Even if it was fake or not, though, Lisanna smirked a bit while she found a bright side to the fact that Lucy was in a new guild. That would keep her far away from Natsu, thus keeping the fire dragon slayer from wanting her back in his life if something caused him to feel that way, and the white-haired girl hoped that Lucy would stay far away from Fairy Tail. She knew that Erza and Cana were on her side right now, since she had cutely asked them yesterday to help her out with making a sweet surprise for Natsu, and there was a scheming look in her blue eyes while she knew that Natsu would always love her over his ex.

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><p><strong>At the cafe in Cerulean...<strong>

When they had entered the new cafe that had just opened in the town of Cerulean, Sting and Lucy gasped in awe at the elegant blue carpet with the brown walls to match. Pictures of coffee drinks and desserts were hung on the walls, and the white dragon slayer led his date to a table in the northeast corner of the cafe. It was near the blue counter where the cashier was situated, so that was great. Sting calmly smiled while pulling out Lucy's chair for her, and she happily sat down while smiling at Sting for being such a gentleman. After he sat down, both of them pushed the chairs inward to be comfortable.

The heavenly aroma of a red cake from a nearby table had gotten Sting's attention, and Lucy could also smell how sweet it was while Hibiki Lates seemed to be enjoying it with Jenny Realight. Even though Sting and Lucy did not know what the cake was, seeing the large white icing and red juicy strawberries arranged in a wonderful manner on that heart-shaped cake were some sights that were enough to tell them that they just had to try it. The cake smelled so delicious, and it probably tasted even more heavenly than it looked. Upon seeing Hibiki and Jenny drink their coffees while sighing in pleasure at the fancy taste, Lucy knew that she had to place an order like that.

"Hi, there! Welcome to Cafe Kawaii! What would you and your date like today from our cute establishment where love is always in the air?" The cashier girl asked kindly with a smile while it took Lucy a few seconds to realize that it was Chelia Blendy out on a job for the day.

Lucy blushed when the pink-haired sky god slayer used the word "date" to describe Sting because they weren't actually dating. However, maybe they had enough chemistry to become dating partners and something more. Well, he had taken her to a cafe. It seemed like a pretty romantic start for two people to have their first date, even though Lucy was only here as Sting's friend. However, she also knew that her feelings had to be shown to him. She did not want to give him mixed signals about how she felt on her first date with him, the date where the first impression truly counts. Ignoring her thoughts, Lucy placed an order while looking at the menu board near Chelia.

"Hi, Chelia. According to the cafe's menu board, I think that my date and I shall have the Strawberry Cake of Bliss with the Make Love Mint Chocolate Frappuccinos as well. He's not my boyfriend or anything, but we're just building chemistry together as a pair. However, he makes me blush while my heart flutters when I look into his eyes." Lucy told Chelia with a happy smile on her face as she blushed romantically while handing her the 65 bills of 100 jewels that totaled up to 6,500 jewels to match the price of her order.

The cute mage from Lamia Scale responded happily while she totaled up the price that matched 6,500 jewels and took the money from Lucy, "Wow, you want the cake for couples? That's totally romantic, Lucy! I've heard a rumor going around that people who eat that cake together end up being really happy, and they end up falling into a love that blooms like the most beautiful roses."

In 10 minutes, thanks to the chefs being such skilled bakers with culinary skills that were mainly focused around desserts, the Strawberry Cake of Bliss was ready along with the two large cups of Mint Chocolate Frappuccinos. Lucy placed the two drinks on the nearby table where Sting waited for her, and then she went back to the counter to get the receipt. Afterwards, Lucy sat back down at the table with her blond partner. How would this cake end up tasting, since it had an aroma that could be more heavenly than the magic of Jellal Fernandes?

Lucy sat across from Sting, who smiled when he took a sip of his mint chocolate frappuccino. The mint flavor in his drink, combined with the chocolate and whip cream, made his tongue pleased to taste something so satisfying. He knew Lucy had good taste, and he was glad that he let her choose the order. Sting even wondered how the cake would taste, since it looked like it had been made to perfection while being in the shape of a heart to symbolize things like love and romance. Sweetness was quite a good thing, was it not?

"I have to admit, this town can help us get to many nearby places. I checked the map of Fiore in one of the guidebooks that was in the resort's library, and there's a town called Saffron south of us. It has a Magnet Train that runs all the way to Goldenrod Town, another place that we should visit because you'd get to hear the great Sting Eucliffe be on the radio, but we can save that for another day. At least your spells are getting stronger, to also give us a reason to keep being happy." Sting said with a smile on his face, as he cut a slice of cake and put it on his blue plate before eating it to have his mouth taste a delectable and copious amount of sweetness.

Lucy cut a slice of cake for herself and placed it on the blue plate in front of her. She drank some of her mint chocolate frappuccino, and then proceeded to taste the red slice of cake. It had somewhat a sweet strawberry taste to it, with the added effect of having its eater enjoy the cherry filling that was a sweet added bonus, but Lucy didn't mind. The cake was incredibly delicious, and she was glad to be here with Sting. She didn't notice that he was cutting out three more slices of the cake, which would obviously leave the three remaining slices for Lucy to eat. Sting was really good at making Lucy love his charms, right?

This was almost like a date between Sting and Lucy, both of them enjoying each other's company at the cafe, and both of the mages knew perfectly well that eating was half of the date. They knew that they needed to get to know each other, and Lucy made the brave move of starting it off with her question. It would be odd to ask this to the guild master of Sabertooth, not wanting to offend him in any way, but Lucy had to know some history about the guy that she was starting to like. After all, that would help them both get past any issues that would come up.

"What did you ever think of a person like Minerva, Sting? I mean, did you like a woman who was so intense when it came to competing or did you just judge her based on her overall personality? When you have interest in a girl, is there a certain kind of criteria that you really look for?" Lucy asked curiously while she kept eating her slice of cake and drinking more of her hot minty coffee.

Sting responded calmly, not really getting hints of Lucy's feelings for him, "I used to like Minerva, until she was just using Lector as a means to make me win last year's Grand Magic Games for Team Sabertooth. She used me like a tool, even threatening me to not attack her, and I can't stand women who I act like that. The girl that would suit me is someone with kindness, smarts, confidence, and power doesn't matter because I'd help her out. Don't say anything to Shelly about this, but she can get scarier than Minerva at times. Her ice can pretty much freeze away the sadism of Minerva's energy waves."

Upon hearing Sting's answers, as Lucy finished up her first slice of the cake, she was pretty glad that he looked for the best qualities in girls when it came to finding a decent partner. Lucy was also glad that he was not the perverted type of guy who would have given in to Minerva's seductive moves, even though she had only heard rumors that Minerva could charm men. Despite the fact that though Lucy had recently strengthened up her Plant Demon Slayer Magic in the past three days, she saw that as another reason to train hard and give Shelly a major beating when they would cross paths again.

Her heart was beating wildly with the taste of the wonderful cake, the delicious mint chocolate frappuccino, and Lucy felt totally happy at the fact that Sting was being able to share this experience with her. Lucy got up and she was about to tell Sting that these little feelings fluttered around her mind, mostly since she had been doing jobs with him while also being a part of his luxurious guild, but how would he react to what she would tell him? Would he say that he liked her, too? Did Sting have any romantic feelings for her at all, or would he reject Lucy right now because of how fast her feelings swerved towards him?

"_This is it. No more holding back. I like Sting, and I'm really starting to admire him. _These feelings may be small, but I need to know if he would like me someday. I know that it's not good to rush into a new relationship after a week, but it's only admitting my attraction to him. If I had a few more spells to impress him, then maybe he'd be more into me. I want to move on from Natsu, and Sting is the guy who replaces my eruptive headaches with calm waters while making me feel more confident about myself." __Lucy thought while clenching her fists and looking determined about what she was going to do.

As she moved to stop Sting to confess her attraction to him, Lucy couldn't help but notice that the pink and white icing from the cake was all over his lips. Sting had not licked off the icing at all while Lucy quickly ate a little bit of one of her remaining slices, and the blonde mage's heart was beating with warmth as she saw the white dragon slayer get up from his chair. Lucy was about to thank him for such a nice date and tell him how she truly felt, but fate made her blush pink while making her look directly into Sting's eyes for his wonderful charms to let her voice react in a vociferous manner.

When he got close enough to Lucy, wondering why she was just standing there, Sting was suddenly a bit shocked to see her blush a light shade of pink while saying that she really loved being out with him right now. She also told him that her heart fluttered with little feelings of love when she was around him, really loving the warmth in his hands, and the brown-eyed girl also looked confident while saying that Natsu could never compare to a hot guy like Sting. Her speech ended with a few words about loving how Sting could look good while being shirtless on the beach, and how she liked it when he felt her body with his soft hands while she only wore a towel.

Upon realizing that she had just said her thoughts aloud in a public place, making some girls blush a bit while they couldn't believe that she had the guts to sound so attracted to Sting, Lucy looked really embarrassed at herself for acting like a fan girl in front of him. Her confident mood now went away, making her look worried about the possibility of people laughing at her, but Sting's reaction mattered the most to the blonde girl right now. She was hoping that he wouldn't think that she was creepy, nor did she want him to think that she wanted to be his girlfriend right away. Lucy just wanted to leave her burnt past behind, but only Sting's answer would decide if her love life had any light for a good future.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 6? Did you like it? Lucy has just admitted her small feelings to Sting, taking this StiCy further. Sorry for skipping a few days, but Lucy's two spells got a bit stronger during that time. The next chapter will give her some more spells, though, and will Sting like them? How will the duo fare against someone who targets them on part two of their date? What does Natsu hide from Lisanna? Standby for the update!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>First Date, Part 2<strong>

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><p>Lucy had just told Sting about her attraction to him, making the white dragon slayer look a bit shocked at how loud she had been while her words had taken him by surprise, and the blonde mage wanted Sting to know that she had small feelings for him. He had blinked his eyes after a few seconds had passed, really taking in what she had just said, but then the blue-eyed male gently smiled in a confident manner from hearing about how Lucy had liked him so much. Lucy had intended to just calmly confess to him about her feelings, but fate had chosen to intervene. The blush on her face was at the median between pink and red, but Lucy gasped a bit while she knew that the other customers were watching the romantic scene.<p>

After a few more seconds, she gave Sting a gentle hug while letting her arms gently wrap around his back. He accepted her hug while sweetly licking off some of the cake's icing that had been on Lucy's left cheek, and Lucy noticed the calm look in his blue eyes while a pleased facial expression formed on his face. Had he realized her small feelings, or would he laugh and say that Lucy was just trying to desperate move past Natsu by ending this first date with a kiss? Sting told Chelia to make another one of those special cakes with a coffee to go, and he handed her 6,500 jewels. Lucy used this chance to run out of the café, and she looked really embarrassed.

She couldn't believe that she had just done that, not even asking Sting if he already had an interest in someone like Yukino or Minerva, and Lucy felt really bad for telling her feelings to Sting without knowing if he felt the same way. She hadn't considered his feelings, and Sting might not even like her that way. She even thought that he would say that Shelly was the woman that he wanted to be with, and Lucy did not even look back inside the cafe because she thought that Sting ordered that food to eat it by himself while he would think that Lucy was creepy. She was really hoping that he would not say that she was moving too fast, and Lucy just wanted to explain everything.

It was not her fault that she had been charmed by the beauty of Sting's eyes, falling into a state of bliss like how she had done with him when they were on the beach as well, and Lucy had truly been attracted to him. He had been such a nice guy, and he had even saved her earlier in the week when a tree branch broke as she had to climb up a high tree to retrieve a treasure chest. She had screamed in fear while falling from a high height, but Sting had caught her. When he was holding her in his arms, Lucy could only blush and sigh happily from noticing that their lips were only a few centimeters apart.

However, the results of admitting signs of attraction to a hot guy could really go either way. The blonde mage had only wanted to inform Sting that she had a crush on him, but looking into his beautiful blue eyes had caused Lucy to just let her feelings come out in such an open way. Would Sting approve of what she had said, though? Even though he had seemed really pleased by her flirty words, Lucy did not want him to reject her. She wanted to let her attraction build up to being a relationship, and Sting was the guy who she wanted to be dating. He was much better than Natsu in many ways, but Lucy still berated herself for letting herself lose her head in that moment.

_"Why in the world did I act like a flirtatious idiot back there? I was so ready to just be calm and tell him how I felt, but the words came out in such a strong way! __What if Sting already has a girlfriend, and I got in the way of their love? __I hope that my first impression was good, but the chances of a positive response from Sting might be really low because of that sudden flirting. He must've found my order of that heart-shaped cake to just be friendly and amusing, so I made the worst move in the history of romance!" _Lucy thought to herself while twiddling her thumbs, blushing a light shade of pink while she looked inside the cafe.

As the white dragon slayer exited Café Kawaii with a large brown bag in his left hand that was containing the cake and the sealed cup of coffee, he handed the remaining jewels from his order to Lucy and she quickly turned away from him while taking them. Sting narrowed his blue eyes for a moment, realizing Lucy must be uncomfortable after how she seemed too flirty earlier, and his eyes became calm afterwards for him to say something. She definitely needed to hear this, and it would make everything become more clear. It may also make everything better as well, and Sting was ready to say it.

"Look, I know that was somewhat of an accident. I'd tell you to be more careful, but I guess that you were just lost in the greatness of our date. It was so awesome to talk with you and eat cake with you, but the best part about it would be that I had gotten some vital info out of you. That was totally shocking, but you know what? The shock let me know that my flirty hints got through to you, Lucy. I loved seeing you in that towel, especially when I could see drops of water sliding off of you, and you're also a sweet girl who can be fierce as well." Sting told her while calmly smiling at her, as he attempted to hold her hand in an effort to offer her comfort if she wanted it.

Lucy's cocoa brown eyes twinkled a bit when Sting had told her that he loved seeing her in that white towel, and she blushed happily while hearing that he had been hoping that his hints of flirting had gotten through to her. Lucy wanted to jump for joy from knowing that she truly had made a great first impression on the first date, but she had calmed herself down enough to respond with a gentle hug while having her head resting against Sting's chest and feeling his rock-hard abdominals with her hands. Fate had made Lucy actually show Sting how she felt about him, and the odds had definitely been in her favor. They paid off nicely, and Sting put his arms around Lucy.

Sting looked down at her with a smile on his face, enjoying the fact that his friend was now happy, and the white dragon slayer's charming blue eyes had been filled with some happiness while he was glad that his strategy of flirting with Lucy had worked. Sting had even smirked in a confident manner while thinking that his chocolate chip pancakes from earlier had good way to seal the deal with the brown-eyed girl, and he was happy that his efforts paid off. Sting didn't know that Lucy had been sending hints his way as well, and the fact that he loved her flirty ways had shown Lucy that Sting finally caught on to her sweet tactics.

As Sting and Lucy ended the hug, the blonde girl giggled a bit while she now thought that it would be a good idea to continue this fine date somewhere else. After all, it would be pretty awkward to go back inside the cafe and have people stare at her for various reasons. Sting looked at her in a teasing manner, thinking that she did not want to see her possible new fans, and he chuckled a bit while letting her know that they could hang out at the park near the resort for a little while. Parks could be where romance hit its stride, you know.

Lucy was so glad that Sting had been liking her, just like how she was falling for him, and she held his hand gently while they began walking to the park. The chemistry between them was starting to grow, like a lovely flower that got some good sunlight, and Lucy blushed a bit while she could happily compare herself to a sweet-smelling flower while Sting would be the sunlight that brought warmth to her heart. He was better than Natsu, though, since flames of deceit could only make the joys of flowers be effaced for horrid reasons.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Lisanna had been trying to calm down Natsu while he seemed pretty miffed at the fact that Lucy had been helping out people from Sabertooth, especially since they were the rivals of people in Fairy Tail, and the fire dragon slayer also could not fathom how Lucy had helped Sting take down a dangerous criminal like Michelle. People wielding spell books were said to be very strong, so Natsu could not believe that the newspaper had even informed everyone that Lucy was able to help Shelly and Sting take down such a brutal thief.

While Natsu felt like beating up Sting, there was one problem. He did not exactly know where the guild of Sabertooth was located, and going into someone else's guild to start a fight would just make Fairy Tail look like a bunch of bullies. Natsu had actually been the person to bully Lucy on the last day that their paths had crossed, and he had referred to her as being someone who would be a crybaby that threw tantrums when things did not go her way. Lucy would have been crying and seeking attention from if Natsu was the writer of her fate, but he was thankfully not. Natsu thought that Lucy was still the same, but she had changed.

Trying to look at what he had while taking his mind off of what wasn't needed anymore, Natsu kissed Lisanna on her lips while they had been standing by the bar in the guildhall. He knew that being mad over Lucy helping his rival would not really help his relationship right now, and the pink-haired male smiled a bit while looking at the white-haired goddess that he was dating right now. Lisanna had always looked pretty good, and she had been wearing a two-piece blue plaid bikini while Natsu had promised to go with her to the beach today.

Lucy's absence had also caused Natsu to be more nonchalant about it, making Lisanna glad that he was not having much concern for his ex, and the blue-eyed girl was happy that no one would get in her way of being with the fire dragon slayer. While Lucy would be getting some good news about herself from the media, if she did more jobs like taking down notorious villains, Lisanna giggled a bit while she knew that dark guilds would just see Lucy as an enemy for taking down dark mages. They would probably take her down to forever be rid of her, something that would be great to Lisanna.

Lisanna had returned the kiss to Natsu, enjoying the feeling of his heated lips against her soft ones, and she was glad that a whole week had gone by with almost no drama involved. The happy couple was now a week closer to their twelve-month anniversary, the day that would be full of joy while giving them another month of fun, and the white-haired mage was glad that things were going well. Even though Natsu still wanted to know who told Lucy about him cheating on her while being with Lisanna, neither of them knew that the newspaper article from yesterday was Sting's way of trolling Natsu for how he hurt Lucy. The real paper delivery was always on Friday, three days from now, something that mostly everyone in Fairy Tail had forgotten about.

The blue-eyed girl told her boyfriend in a calm tone, happily smiling as she broke the kiss with him, "Natsu, you're the best guy in the whole world. Please don't get worked up over Lucy helping out the Sabertooth guild, and she will probably still come back here to chew you out over the fact that she was cheated on. Also, Lucy is probably closing up her heart and dyeing her hair to represent her sadness. She must be feeling so very bitter over the fact that you're with me now, and there is nothing that she will ever be able to do about it."

Even though Lucy was now in Sabertooth, Natsu was still thinking more about who had won that contest. It seemed quite odd that Sorcerer Magazine had spoke of the winner not being around to give out their identity, even though a typical person would cheer loudly about their winnings for everyone in the town of Magnolia to hear their great news, but the current circumstances were not so typical. Lucy had won the contest, but she had not even entered it. Also, she had sunk down into a Water Warp puddle before really being able to tell anyone about it.

Natsu had not told anyone about this, since there was a very slim chance of it even being close to transpiring, but the pink-haired male could guess why Lisanna could not find her second prize. It was not going to come late, nor would it be in some big package that was going to reach the guild in a few days. He could not tell her about this sudden truth, since it might heavily dent their relationship, but it was true that he had wrote the best letter ever for Lisanna's first entry. She had submitted her own entry to get two prizes, though, so why did Lisanna not get her second gift of glory?

Well, there was actually an answer to that question. However, Natsu hoped that he had not pulled a stupid move. The fire dragon slayer wrote Lisanna's great letter that gave many reasons about why she deserved the trip, but Natsu did not put his girlfriend's name in the actual letter. He had written it from a first-person point of view to make it seem like his sweet girlfriend was talking about herself in positive ways to let the judges see that she could be quite glamorous, portraying Lisanna as a fantastic person, but let's just say that something else other than the letter unknowingly held the key to the mystery.

"It's just so weird how Lucy has been gone for a week now while the winner of the contest wasn't even announced, so maybe it's possible that the winner just won't say anything. If I won that contest, then me and Lisanna could be kissing on the beach right now. We'd be drinking sodas, too, and Lisanna would look so great in a bikini. She'd be looking better than Lucy ever could, but maybe the person who snitched to her about my affair had left town with her. Maybe they even gave her the ticket for the grand prize, but it just feels weird to me." Natsu told himself in a confused manner, having a puzzled look on his face while trying to put fragments of facts and theories together to find out how things had ended up like this.

He still knew that Lucy could not be powerful enough to take him on in the Grand Magic Games, since they were going to be held this year, and Natsu chuckled a bit while he could only think that she would get bad luck from being in Sabertooth. Just because that guild had gotten second place last year, that did not mean they were lesser than anyone else. Sting surrendering in the final event did not mean that he was entirely to blame for the team's loss, since Minerva really caused it by pissing off Fairy Tail when she showed her sadistic side, but Natsu did not know that Lucy's new allegiance to Sabertooth made their guild much better.

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><p><strong>10 minutes later, in a park near the resort...<strong>

Lucy had arrived at the grassy park with Sting, seeing it filled with beautiful flowers that were in many cute colors, and the trees looked absolutely beautiful with their green leaves on the branches. Some yellow butterflies flew through the air at a slow pace, looking really cute, and there was also a nearby playground for little kids to enjoy. Some wooden swings were in the beautiful park as well, making Sting chuckle at how he once pushed Lector hard enough to send him flying high like a certain team that normally went blasting off after they would repeatedly get hurt, and the plants here were all handled well by people with Plant Demon Slayer Magic.

This was the ideal place for users of Plant Magic to do their training, since their powers could also be used to heal the land after they were done dealing damage to it, and Lucy felt like she would need a few more spells. Having two spells could only put her at a novice level, really, and not having more spells could make her end up being in a pretty dire situation. If Lucy had managed to create more moves that she could use, then there would be no trouble for her at all. Making two new spells could prove to be quite useful, especially against people who could counter the two spells that she wielded right now, so Lucy just had to try this out.

She turned to her left, looking away from Sting while only seeing a few trees near the sidewalk, and the blonde girl closed her eyes while having a mental image of this third spell that she was creating. It would have to be something that could be used on distant foes, a move that could really keep them at bay, but Lucy also heard from Shelly that ascending in the number of spells was a demon slayer's greatest strength while also being their fatal flaw. Using too many spells in one battle could drain a demon slayer's magical power quite fast, and it could only be replenished by eating the element that matched the magic that they used.

The brown-eyed girl could not let drawbacks hinder her now, though, and she looked focused while activating the new move known as Botanical Crush. This spell caused Lucy to kneel down to the ground, placing her hands on the grass while she looked straight at the tree, and a pale green aura surrounded her body. Some brown plant roots emerged from underground to squeeze the tree with a tremendous amount of force, crushing it in the process, and the tree broke in half. Its top part fell over, leaving only the stump standing, and the third spell actually led right into the fourth spell.

It was known as Energy Ball, and this spell caused Lucy to shoot out a green ball of Plant Demon Slayer Magic from her mouth. It hit the tree that had been cut in half, making a large pale green blast transpire, and the aura around Lucy's body to pulsate for a few moments before it faded away. She felt revitalized, almost like she had been able to absorb energy from the target that was attacked, and this spell could really come in handy as an assisting move that did a good amount of damage. It had really impressed Sting, making him smile at Lucy's new creations, and he could only hug her from behind in a gentle manner while she panted a bit.

He told her in a pleased manner, having a cocky grin on his face from seeing how those two spells worked well together, "I never really thought of training while being on a date, Lucy, but at least you just made two more awesome spells that could really knock someone out. Your skills with the Plant Demon Slayer Magic are so calm and thought out, but I really think that you're hot and fierce. It's really admirable how you took down all those beehives in the town of Celadon, and I can even smell that you're wearing some perfume that's sweet enough to match your kind personality."

"Thank you so much, Sting! I want to become stronger for the sake of our team being great, and I really want to be at an even level with Shelly. After all, you and Rogue may end up needing two strong demon slayers on a mission for four people. We would definitely help you guys out, and our whole group could totally be filled with cohesion. I love how you and I are starting to bond well with each other, and this perfume of mine comes in the scent of Belgian chocolate. I wore it today in an effort to flirt with you, Sting." Lucy replied in a happy manner, having a confident look in her eyes that were brown like chocolate while she turned around to face Sting.

Looking into Sting's calm blue eyes had made Lucy feel like this date was better than the times that she went out with Natsu, and being alone with him in the park right now had made Lucy twiddle her thumbs while she blushed a light shade of pink. Sting's eyes were just so charming and filled with positive energy, making Lucy feel even better while Sting went back to hugging her, and their chemistry was growing like a flower. In fact, Sting even broke the hug to pick a few flowers off of the ground for Lucy to enjoy their sweet scents that could make a woman sigh happily with delight.

She sniffed them for a few moments, her heart beating in a happy manner from taking in the lovely aromas, and Lucy also noticed that Sting had some nice lips. They looked so very kissable, which would be great if he was a good kisser, and Lucy hoped that he would at least give her a little peck on the cheek. It was true that both mages had little feelings for each other, but could a kiss really help the situation? Even if Lucy initiated the kiss, would Sting make any complaints about her breath? She had certainly been eating many sweets, which was normal in the first few days for people that been cheated on and betrayed, so her breath might not be an issue.

Lucy did not want Sting to say that a kiss would be making their chemistry move too fast, so she decided to just play it safe by taking the white dragon slayer's left hand in her right hand while nicely asking him if they could go over to the swings for another part of their date. Sting happily agreed to this, smirking in a sneaky manner while he wanted to show off his strength to the blonde girl, and the duo walked around some flowers to not step on them while they made their way to the swings that were close by. This date was going pretty great for Lucy and Sting, so it could be said that love was swinging their way. (I know my puns can be corny, sadly.)

Sting was glad to see that Lucy sat on the swing, smiling happily while she saw him go behind the swing to be the one who would push her into the air, and he pulled the swing back while moving it upward to the apex of the swing's curve. Lucy held on tightly to the ropes, guessing that Sting was about to give her a pretty good ride, and the blonde girl screamed for a bit when she felt Sting push the swing hard with only one hand. Lucy was sent flying forward while she sat on the swing, before going backwards, and she opened her eyes to see that the swing was gradually slowing down while it moved back and forth.

She giggled happily while Sting pushed the swing again, sending her flying up towards the sky, but the ropes could not handle much more kinetic energy putting tension on them. They began to slowly snap while Lucy was high in the air, something that Sting's enhanced hearing luckily picked up on, and he ran around to face Lucy while the ropes gave way. She screamed in fear while falling down to the ground, stretching out her arms for the blue-eyed male to grab them, and Lucy hoped that Sting could catch her. He even jumped up to catch her, but Lucy still crashed into him while the harsh impact created a brown cloud of smoke around the ground when both mages hit it hard.

Lucy knew that she had landed on Sting, hopefully not sitting on his face, but she was blushing a light shade of pink while she could feel that her lips came into contact with another soft pair of lips. Lucy closed her eyes while guessing that they were Sting's lips, meaning that she had just kissed him, and he had his arms around her waist while he had caught her. Sting slowly opened his eyes to see that he had just been kissed by Lucy, even though it was a total accident, and his cheeks had a red blush on them while he could taste little bits of the sweet cake on her teeth.

Lucy got off of Sting to help him up, before turning away once again because of the fact that she made another move that seemed embarrassing. Kissing Sting was supposed to be for later, not right now, but why did fate give her something unexpected like this? She blushed a light shade of pink while knowing that things were possibly awkward right now, Sting doing the same thing, and they both smiled happily while having their backs to each other. Trying to continue the date after having a weird kiss like this would be weird, so Lucy and Sting would respectively have to ask Shelly and Rogue for some good advice while they still planned to walk back to the resort together.

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><p><strong>Elsewhere, on an island...<strong>

Shelly had been out on a job in a place known as known as the Sky Pillar, having climbed up a large tower that was on an island that was located on Route 131 of Fiore, and she had finally made it to the top floor of this tower. This was where a green treasure chest had been rumored to have been seen by its client, who simply let Shelly have the reward if she could get up there, and it was said to have been placed there by someone in Fairy Tail. The mere thought of those people made the black-haired woman want to throw up, since one of them was a cheater who broke Lucy;s heart, but what would they try to hide up here?

She narrowed her aqua blue eyes while using her icy breath to freeze the lock on the treasure chest, before shattering it with a single slash from her sharp nails, and Shelly slowly opened this chest to find items that were known as TMs. These were compact discs that could teach moves to people, often known as Technical Magic for how their magic could be compatible with the brains of many people, and Shelly knew exactly how they worked. She was not only a Water Demon Slayer and an Ice Demon Slayer, but a treasure hunter was also one thing that Shelly had a talent for.

The Sabertooth guild became filled with riches when she had joined, possibly after the Grand Magic Games that took place in X791, and her expertise in finding treasure caused the guild to be turned into a luxury resort. Jiemma and Minerva might not approve of that, but Shelly could really just shut them up by freezing them solid with her chilling ice or sending them far away with a blast from her dense water. She was glad that the guild of fairies had tried to hide their valuable items in a place that had been guarded by users of high-level Wind Magic, which made it better that she beat all ten of them down, and she didn't even care that one girl said how their leader would be back.

There was really no concern for the leader of those ten wimps, since they could not even lay a finger on Shelly, and the woman with aqua blue eyes giggled a bit while putting on some cherry red lipstick. She wanted to look great for when the guild of Sabertooth would be pleased to know that they now had TMs, since those could be used an infinite number of times, and they could be activated by aiming the compact discs at the people who needed certain moves. It wasn't possible to create every single move, thus explaining why TMs had been made in the place known as Silph Co. that resided in Saffron Town, and finding a few new icy moves made Shelly very happy.

She also noticed that there were some pale green TMs for Plant Magic, meaning that a Plant Demon Slayer like Lucy could use them, and they were some pretty sweet moves. They would get more powerful while the user of their magic would be getting stronger as they trained, meaning that the technical magic had a symbiotic relationship with the mage, and that was one good way for someone to increase their skills to a higher level. Of course, even as powerful as the moves in TMs could be, they still had their drawbacks and major weaknesses. Power was not all that was needed to win a battle, and that was something that Shelly already knew.

"Well, it looks like stealing from Fairy Tail is a nice way of getting even with those fools for what they had done to Lucy. Since she can use the magic of a Plant Demon Slayer, it looks like I'll have to teach her how to use some of her new abilities. I bet that blonde rookie still can't even warp yet or make plants out of her own magic, since Sting can't teach her anything about those skills, so I'll have to teach her on our next mission together." Shelly told herself while speaking aloud, as she closed the treasure chest to pick it up with ease, before jumping off of the Sky Pillar to presumably land in a large Water Warp puddle that she had created.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 7? Did you like it? Sorry for changing from my initial plot, though. The StiCy is getting better, and Lucy has kissed Sting! However, that still doesn't mean they're a couple. The upcoming chapters will lead up to them being a couple, though. As for Shelly's little plot at the end, let's just say that she shall be helping Lucy learn some new moves for when they have to fight a new enemy. Will Lucy have to handle a toxic foe, and what happens when this person is underestimated? Standby for the update! <strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Kissing Is Minor, Poison Is Major<strong>

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><p>Lucy and Shelly were spending the next morning on the third floor of the Sabertooth guild, eating some glazed chocolate donuts to have a very sweet breakfast on this fine day, and both of the girls seemed to be quite calm while they sat down at a table together. Lucy had not told her black-haired friend about the kiss that she shared with Sting, most likely because of how she still could not believe that fate made her take that route to making the white dragon slayer truly know how she felt, and it still felt weird for Lucy to have shared a kiss with Sting.<p>

She really did like him on that first date, really glad that they had so much fun yesterday, but Lucy was truly worried about Sting saying how their relationship would just be moving far too fast. She wanted to avoid the bad feeling of getting rejected, which truly hurt just as much as getting cheated on, and the blonde girl also knew that there was nothing really definite about a love being able to happily bloom from one kiss on the lips. Rushing a love or trying to love too much was never good, since it would just drain away all of the love at quite a fast rate, and Lucy did not want to lose any chances of being happy with a great guy who really valued her.

Sting had made her feel so much better than Natsu ever did, mainly because Sting was a lot more sophisticated while also being such a kind guy, and Lucy knew that she would have to make a decision with him about where they would be headed from this point on. Both of the mages would have to decide on whether they should be together, keep dating while letting their chemistry continue to grow, or they might have to not date at all. Lucy did want to keep on dating Sting, but they certainly had to decide on the path that they would now take. After all, their teamwork had managed to get them through a few tough situations.

Shelly noticed that Lucy had not taken one bite out of her donuts while they sat down together at the table, clearly having something on her mind that was more important than eating a sugary breakfast right now, and the Water Demon Slayer wanted to know what was wrong with the Celestial Spirit Wizard. They were friends, after all, so there was no reason to have any secrets in the dark. Besides, Shelly could also read people well enough to actually know when trouble was in their thoughts. She could guess that something happened to Lucy, but she did not know exactly what went on yesterday. Even if Lucy sat on a chocolate bar and got laughed at, she could still say something.

As she gently put a finger to Lucy's lips, just as the brown-eyed girl was about to bite into one of the glazed chocolate donuts on her plate, Shelly really wanted to know about why Lucy had been so quiet today. Normally, she'd be saying how doing her best on today's mission would be the main point of her job. However, it seemed like Lucy's usual confident mood was replaced by a mood of confusion. She felt like her next path in love was very unclear, since it was hardly normal for anyone to have their first kiss on the very first date with someone, but keeping this matter to herself did not help the situation. She had to get advice from Shelly, since it was the best way to go.

"Hey, Shelly. Listen, there's something that I really need to tell you. This may seem really exciting, but I really don't know what to do next. You see, Sting and I went out on a date yesterday. We were having so much fun at the cafe while we got to know each other, but then I confessed my little feelings of love to him. He really liked me as well, and then we went straight to the park after finishing our dessert at the cafe. I nearly fell out of the sky after Sting gave me a hard push on the swing, but he caught me when I fell. However, as he caught me, we shared a kiss. It was weird, and we don't know where to go from this point on." Lucy explained to her friend in a calm tone while her brown eyes told Shelly that she really needed some guidance.

The user of chilling ice replied in a sweet manner, a smile starting to form on her face, "Well, it's not really anything to freak out about. You two kissed on the first date, but it doesn't have to mean anything serious. You guys could keep on building your chemistry while getting to fully know each other, and Sting does seem to be looking slightly happier these days. Maybe you two should just keep acting really friendly with each other, and things won't be so weird. Just let the bond flow between you two like lovely water, and it shall soon become like the ice that I wield. Just keep being Sting's friend, and things won't be weird at all."

That certainly was some good advice that Shelly had given to Lucy, letting the blonde mage know that her friendship with Sting did not have to have such a weird vibe to it because of one kiss, and joy began to build in Lucy's cocoa brown eyes while she could see that there was still a chance for her to be with the guy that she liked. Shelly had also told her to let Sting know that a kiss was just a little step towards forming the great relationship, but things like love and friendship were much more vital factors in deciding whether these two cute mages could ever be in love while they could be beautiful like a rainbow.

Speaking of rainbows, as well as the colors that could form such a beautiful arch after the rain had stopped, Shelly pulled out a neatly folded brown flyer from the left pocket of her blue jeans. She unfolded the job request for Lucy to see that this job took place in the town of Fuchsia, a place that was located far southwest of Cerulean Town, and Shelly let Lucy know that they could reach Fuchsia by going through Celadon to reach the Cycling Road that would provide bicycles for the girls to reach the former of the two aforementioned towns in this fabulous part of Fiore, prompting Lucy to happily eat her chocolate donuts while she was excited about getting to ride a bike.

She had never ridden a bike before, mainly since Lucy would always go on jobs with the other members of Team Natsu by taking mobile modes of transportation like trains or boats, and even Erza had also never ridden a bike in her whole life. This would certainly be new to Lucy, since she would be introduced to very high levels of speed that relied solely on her own energy, but Shelly would probably make things easy for her by picking out a simple bike that had training wheels on it. That might make other cyclists laugh a bit, but safety always came first when the matter of riding a bike had been brought up to anyone that had any kind of common sense.

While Lucy picked up her golden tray to put it in a nearby trash can, she also walked over to a nearby glass window for the sake of seeing if she looked fashionable as always. With a happy look on her face, Lucy smiled nicely as she admired how her light blue T-shirt went well with her pink miniskirt. Her red sneakers also added a nice touch, coupled with the fact that she had her beautiful blonde hair in a ponytail on the right side of her head, and Lucy looked very lovely. Even Shelly liked her choices for fashion, since Sting would probably blush when he saw Lucy. It's not like he didn't blush before, but it was awesome to see him being interested in the celestial spirit wizard.

Now that Lucy was prepared to go outside, also being equipped with some berries that she had picked in the town of Celadon, she got info from Shelly about the job that they would be taking. The girls would have to handle a criminal who wielded the fierce powers of toxicity, meaning that her skills most likely focused around Poison Magic, and that meant Lucy's Plant Demon Slayer Magic might be at a disadvantage. Poison was not good for grass, fruit, or trees at all. It would damage the beauty of nature, to be honest, and Lucy ran to the elevator with Shelly while they were both intent on stopping this person's Poison Magic from harming innocent people in Fuchsia Town as well.

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><p><strong>At the same time, in Fuchsia Town...<strong>

Sting and Rogue had already been in the town of Fuchsia, having actually stood in front of an old-fashioned Japanese mansion because of some people saying that they would enter that place, and the dragon slayers could guess that the criminal had lived in this mansion. They had not heard any weird movements coming from within this large residence, and Rogue had heard from an old woman in this town that the mansion could destroy people with its toxicity. There were rumors of the entire mansion itself melting into purple sludge while anyone inside of it would be trapped, never to be seen again, and that could certainly be a frightening issue for the two Sabertooth mages.

Rogue had looked calm while also being cautious as he stood next to Sting, wondering if it would even be safe to go inside that mansion of poison, but he ultimately decided on testing things out with a simple Shadow Dragon's Roar. Rogue fired a spiraling black vortex of shadows from his mouth, watching it quickly tear through the old mansion, and the house now had a few large gaping holes in it while the shadows broke through walls. There had no one inside the toxic mansion to react against Rogue's attack, causing Sting to smirk in a cocky manner, but what happened next would really put a halt to his confident mood.

The house began turning purple, melting slowly while it was now turning into goop, and both of the dragon slayers looked shocked to see something like this transpiring before their very eyes. This was no ordinary mansion, or was it even a mansion at all? The purple goop was also bubbling in a violent manner, almost like it was acid, and Sting could only drop his jaw as more of the mansion began to melt. It was decimating into a large puddle of toxic sludge, making Rogue see that the person who caused this had combined Poison Magic with Molding Magic to make their goop take the form of and solidify into the huge house that silenced those who entered it for any reason.

It was quite strange for someone to put so much Poison Magic into making a large house, since that was a pretty weird way of trying to trap people, but it was even more strange to see that the acidic goop began to rise up and quickly change its shape to look like a woman. The goop began to harden as well, causing Sting to narrow his blue eyes while he could tell that this person was capable of altering their magic's properties. That would definitely make this fight become rather tricky, especially since it looked like this person could shift between various properties of Poison Magic at a fast rate, and the toxic shell quickly broke apart to reveal the poisonous perpetrator.

This foe was a woman who had long purple hair like Minerva, also having two bun-shaped loops of hair on top of her head, and she only wore a purple kimono while she stepped out of the toxic shell that was breaking apart. Sting had to wonder why this woman would be causing trouble to people in this town, since none of them really seemed quite bad, and he could surprisingly smell the grape perfume coming out of her mouth while she exhaled a soft breath of air. Drinking perfume was like drinking poison, which really fit this woman because she was a Poison Demon Slayer that loved to consume poison and create toxicity for the sake of harming others.

"Hello there, you cute mages. My name is Janine Dokusei, and I am also a user of Poison Demon Slayer Magic. My speed can easily confound you, and my toxic abilities will surely bring harm to you. I enjoy taking down the people in this town, mainly to drain their energies down to nothing while taking poisons of all kinds out of their bodies, and I'll just head to other places for more people to enjoy being killed by a poison master like myself. You might find it to not be so soothing, though, since I really could just make this battle be slow and painful." The woman told Sting and Rogue in a sweet tone, having a sense of seduction in her violet eyes.

Sting replied in a stern tone, clenching his fists tightly while he was determined to take down Janine, "This battle won't be slow at all, and it's because we are going to take you out right now. It's wrong to hurt people for the sake of getting more powerful, and you've got nothing to really be proud of. Taking down a bunch of normal people doesn't make you strong at all, lady, and you're crazy to try flirting with us before the fight even starts. Maybe you'll keep smiling after we knock you out, and then we'll throw you in jail for being so evil with your stupid Poison Magic. In fact, you aren't even beautiful enough to have the guards let you off the hook in any way."

Rogue simply sighed in an annoyed manner, knowing that Sting was making the wrong move by trying to rile up a vicious female, and he activated Shadow Drive while his blond ally went into his White Drive upgrade. Sting started this battle off by firing his White Dragon's Roar at Janine, his White Drive making the size of the spell be four times larger than normal, and some purple smoke immediately appeared before the attack even hit Janine! Sting looked shocked to see that his foe exhaled a purple cloud of poison that could create an average explosion, its side effect creating toxic clouds that could hurt anyone who breathed them in, so Sting had to stay distant from Janine.

He decided to now use his Holy Ray attack in an attempt to hit Janine with a copious amount of white beams that were composed from his pure white light, hoping to hit Janine with his beams of light that traveled towards her in curved trajectories, but the Poison Demon Slayer giggled a little bit while hastily stepping into a small puddle of purple goop that had been left behind from her previous explosive counterattack against Sting's first move. This puddle of sludge worked in a similar manner to Shelly's Water Warp spell, since demon slayers had their own special moves for hiding or warping, and Janine simply hid in the puddle while Sting's holy rays crashed into the ground to create many small white blasts of energy.

Before any of the smoke could fade away, though, Janine jumped out of the puddle with an evil smirk on her face. She inhaled all of the smoke, taking in more smog for her body to enjoy, and Janine quickly noticed that Rogue was no longer next to his friend. She turned around quickly while sensing that an attack was coming soon, and her intuition had been correct. The violet-eyed woman was about to be attacked by Rogue, who had taken the form of a shadow to attack her from behind, and he was about to strike her with his move known as Shadow Dragon's Slash. He had disappeared before hitting her with it, though, and Rogue most likely did this to confound her.

The shadow dragon slayer had reappeared behind Janine, making her turn around again, and he was about to hit her with his mighty slash. However, Janine did a few backflips up into the air while gaining some distance from the red-eyed male. She then proceeded to use a new move known as Poison Demon's Sludge Bomb, and this made the antagonist shoot out five blobs of poison from her mouth. They were met with Rogue using his Shadow Dragon's Roar to effectively stop them, despite the fact that they instantly made five large explosions occur upon impact with the black-haired male's vortex of shadows, but the side effect could not be stopped.

As Rogue was about to close his mouth to avoid the poison, him and Sting both looked shocked to see that there were five more purple puddles of sludge on the ground. They were clearly made from those explosions, Janine warping from one to the next at a fast pace, and matters were worsened when Rogue saw her jump out of the puddle closest to him. She put her warm hands on his cheeks, letting him know that this battle had really made her feel excited, but she shot out a purple liquid from her mouth to make it all hit Rogue's face. The shadow dragon slayer could feel his body going numb because of this attack, and the poison gas from earlier had made him fall to the ground in front of Janine's face.

Her clouds of poison had also nullified the young man's magical power to zero for a limited time, but Janine could use that window of opportunity to now strike Sting. The white dragon slayer was now going to take her down with all of his strength, looking pretty peeved about how she had just hurt Rogue, and he ran towards her to show the violet-haired villain that magic was not all that it took to win a battle. He was now going to strike her with White Dragon's Punch, allowing a large amount of light to surround his left fist, and Sting hit her right in the face with his attack. Janine was sent sliding a few feet backward, before Sting hit her with a barrage of punches while his fists were now engulfed in holy white light.

While Sting was hitting Janine, though, he groaned a bit as it felt like no progress had been made. It's not that his punches were weak, since they had made Janine now have many cracks on her body, but what normal person would be fragile like glass? He stepped back quickly while hearing the pieces of Janine's poison shell break while they hit the ground, shattering like glass, and the shell had also melted down to the ground in a pile of goop for Sting to now have the chance to see that this Poison Demon Slayer could also make toxic clones. The real Janine rose up from a puddle that was behind Sting, quickly putting her arms around him, and she hugged him tightly to keep him from getting out of her tight grasp.

Janine told him in a flirty tone, giggling evilly before she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, "There's no way to escape from me, my cute dragon slayer, and you're just lucky that little kiss from me had no poison mixed into it. You're such a very sexy man, and getting to take poison out of you will give feelings of love to both of us. I can't eat my own poison, but the toxicity building up inside your friend's body is edible enough for me to eat it. If you want him to live, then be my love. Join me in taking down other people, and your friend's life will be spared. If not, then I'll just kill you both. Let my toxic kiss of death please your lips before it sends you into the afterlife."

Sting replied in a miffed manner while he still tried to free himself from her grasp, blushing a bit as her hands were now rubbing his muscular arms to keep him soothed, "Look, lady. You are just a toxic vixen with some serious issues about the type of magic that you learned, and I really don't like it at all. Also, there is someone else that I am attracted to. Just like how I won't let a cheating jerk like Natsu keep her from being happy, there is no way that a vicious villain like you will come between us. Besides, the fact that you're so lustful for me is just another reason that I must turn you down. Maybe you're related to Minerva, since both of you are crazy and scary in many ways."

It had been interesting that the white dragon slayer brought up the subject of Lucy, since him and Janine both heard something like a bicycle being ridden into town, and a certain blonde girl had been screaming in terror while she did not how to stop it. Lucy was on the pink bike, having picked it out because of sheer cuteness, and some members of a female gang had tricked her into thinking that the motorcycle was perfect for rookies. They had secretly used magic to enhance the bike's speed by five times the normal amount, since they were giving this bike away, and they had prepared for a sucker to test out their prank. Cuteness could lead to careless judgement, you know.

Shelly had taken a blue bicycle that was perfectly safe to ride, making things okay for the Water Demon Slayer while she had started pedaling down the Cycling Road to Fuchsia Town, but Lucy's bike had quickly started going really fast when she had even put little effort into riding the bicycle. She found herself having to swerve very quickly to avoid hitting anyone, also having trouble with changing lanes pretty quickly, so all of the other terrified bikers simply moved to one lane to keep themselves out of Lucy's way while they simply watched Shelly chase after her while having no trouble at all on the cerulean blue bike.

Lucy also knew that a fast-moving object that had traveled at a high velocity would need reduction from the high amount of speed for a complete stop to be made, but pedaling all the way into Fuchsia Town would not exactly allow her to stop there. She looked pretty scared while seeing Sting and Janine up ahead in a large plain with marshy ground, even though she did not know that the white dragon slayer was about to get a kiss on the lips from his violet-haired captor, and a little girl watching Lucy had been smart enough to use her Glue-Make Magic to make a small ball of paste intercept her path to make the bike get stuck in it, and that newly-made brake had forced the celestial spirit wizard to be thrown hard from her bike.

Her presence had made Sting have looks of shock and relief that Lucy had shown up here, as Shelly had also showed up to the scene a few moments later on her blue bicycle, and Lucy was lucky enough to crash right into Janine to make the toxic vixen release Sting from her flirty hug. The girls were sent rolling across the marshy ground for a few seconds before the antagonist had kicked Lucy high into the air, smirking evilly while she shot out seven blobs of sludge from her mouth to hurt the blonde girl with some harsh explosives, but Shelly had helped Lucy out by using her ice breath to freeze the toxic projectiles. They quickly came back down to the ground, making light blue blasts of energy transpire around Janine, and the blasts quickly faded away while leaving many ice shards behind in all five of the holes that were around the antagonist.

The cold air had made Janine shiver and cause her teeth to start chattering, since a user of Poison Magic would never have to deal with this kind of environment, and this was the perfect time for Lucy to try hitting her with the spell known as Plant Demon's Bullet Seeds. She shot out five green seeds from her mouth while she was high in the sky above Janine, giggling a bit as she saw the seeds comically hit the violet-haired woman on the top of her head, and a pale green aura began to surround the poisonous woman's body. Because of the five seeds hitting their sole target, the pale green aura surrounding Janine's body was five times its normal size.

Lucy was about to gently clap her hands to cause the aura around Janine to explode in five massive blasts of Plant Demon Slayer Magic, but the flirty woman had turned her attention away from the blonde mage to deal with Shelly. She could see the fierce look in the Water Demon Slayer's aqua blue eyes, almost like both of the girls were on the same level, and Shelly stretched her arms out in front of her chest while opening her hands as well. She smiled confidently as a blue ball of water formed in between her hands, before she threw it down to the ground for it to glide on the ground across a stream of water, and it hastily went towards Janine.

That spell was known as Water Demon's Aqua Pulse, a powerful spell that made a light blue blast of energy transpire as it hit the violet-haired user of sludge, and its side effect made Janine be trapped in a sphere of blue water. She was not able to breathe inside the prison of scalding hot water, which was really hurting her body with its hot temperature, but things got interesting when the heat caused Janine's pores to open up. She began to sweat profusely, smirking in a vicious manner as the toxicity from her body came out of her pores in the form of poison gas, and the prison of water began to turn purple while it was being poisoned.

All three kinds of slayers could not eat their own magic that they had created, like how Natsu could not eat his own flames, but Janine found a loophole in that rule. By poisoning an enemy's magic prison or magic attack, she was able to ingest it and eliminate it entirely. She inhaled all of hot water that was now poisoned, getting rid of the sphere that immobilized her in those few seconds, and Janine had a lustful look in her purple eyes while she spat out the scalding hot water in the form of a large violet vortex that was made of poison. Shelly groaned in frustration while knowing that her own ice was not cold enough to freeze her own hot water, but this didn't have to be her battle to win.

She quickly pulled out two pale green TMs from the left pocket of her blue jeans, knowing that they contained two moves that were very useful, and she aimed them both directly up at Lucy. This is how mages could get new moves from TMs to have new spells for their magic, since Shelly had used some of them for herself as well, and she simply got drenched by the poisonous vortex that Janine spat out at her. This battle was left to Lucy, who had now been hit by the pale green auras that traveled straight from the compact discs to reach her body, and the two new moves were now in her brain. Would they be good, though?

"You're a very irksome criminal, you know, and it's time for me to take you out! Even though my plants not be a good match against your poison, get ready for one of my new moves! I guess that these two spells were just created by me, but I don't remember making them. Either way, though, let's see how two new moves will fare against an enemy who seems to be full of toxic tricks! I call upon thee, the fifth spell, Plant Demon's Leaf Storm!" Lucy shouted in a fierce manner while having anger in her cocoa brown eyes, peeved at the fact that Janine had been picking on her teammates.

Janine replied in a shocked manner, her violet eyes showing utter amazement from hearing the name of that move, "You have got to be kidding me! You just said Plant Demon's Leaf Storm, but that means you're a demon slayer who can use one of the most powerful Grass-type moves in history! This can't be happening, and it's nearly impossible! I can't believe that you two girls have been saving up on moves from legendary TMs, as well as creating some on your own, but that must make you more elite than me!"

Lucy began to be surrounded by many forest green leaves that quickly appeared around her, and she used her magic to command them all into spinning above her in a clockwise manner while they also began to become light green. They formed a large ring of leaves above Lucy's head, before the blonde mage ordered them to strike Janine, and this spell worked well with Lucy's first spell from earlier. The large pale green aura from earlier that surrounded Janine's body had begun to glow brightly like a lighthouse beacon, making Plant Demon's Leaf Storm grow five times its normal size to be in sync with the aura, and there was nothing that Janine could do to defend against it.

She could only close her eyes in fear as the attack struck her directly, resulting in an extremely massive pale green blast of Plant Demon Slayer Magic, and Sting looked really awestruck to see that the ground broke apart from the power of this large spell. He had just seen Shelly use those TMs on Lucy, but he never thought that one of them contained Leaf Vortex. Its power was so immense, based on how it had caused a small earthquake in Fuchsia Town for a few seconds, and the white dragon slayer smiled a bit when he could not hear the dreadful sound of Janine inhaling the pale green smoke. Did she survive that tremendous attack, though?

The smoke cleared up to leave Sting speechless and looking shocked, upon seeing that Janine stood in the same spot while she was now bleeding from many places while her purple kimono was now majorly torn because of the blast, and she struggled to stay on her feet while smirking in a cocky manner. She told Sting that Grass-type moves only dealt half their regular amount of power to users of Poison Magic, and she noticed that a purple puddle of goop was a few feet away from her. Janine could only take weak steps towards the puddle, her body having taken much more damage than she had thought, but at least Lucy was now falling out of the sky.

She was about to land a few feet behind Janine, which would be bad because of the fact that the massive blast had now decimated the marsh to reveal solid ground, but Sting felt glad that Janine's earlier hold on him had forced him out of his White Drive. He could see that her guard was not up at all, since she could hardly move, so the blue-eyed male hit her right in the stomach with a White Dragon's Roar. Janine was sent flying back a few feet, in perfect alignment for the blonde mage to break her fall, but Lucy smiled happily while giving some great assistance to Sting's nice timing. As he saw her cute smile, Sting knew that Lucy was also going to keep the poison puddles' toxicity from reaching any people who might try to touch them later on in the future.

As Lucy was closing in on Janine, the distance between them becoming smaller with every second that passed, she used the second TM move that Shelly had given her. It was known as Plant Demon's Grassy Hammer, and this spell made her right hand become a green tree stump that could be used like a hammer to knock out enemies. She looked fierce while getting closer to the antagonist, before being within striking distance for her to hit Janine on the head with the tree stump, and Lucy had struck the violet-haired woman with full force to send her crashing down into the ground while another large pale green blast of energy transpired!

It faded away quickly to let Sting see that Lucy emerged victorious while standing over the unconscious woman who had been flirty and unsanitary, the violet-haired villain having her eyes opened while not moving at all, there were two side effects to Lucy using Plant Demon's Grassy Hammer. The first side effect changed the terrain to being grassy with lovely green-leafed trees sprouting up from the ground to make this part of the town look beautiful, but the second side effect made Lucy's right arm feel the pain of recoil from using the Grassy Hammer spell. She couldn't even move it without feeling pain, but Lucy was not concerned with her own issues right now.

With a worried look now on her face, she ran over to Shelly and Rogue. Both of them had been hit by Janine's venomous spells, taking in the toxins that were causing them both to look very sick right now, and Lucy knelt down in between her friends while pulling out some pink berries out of the left pocket of her pink miniskirt. They looked like peaches, even though these were called Pecha Berries, and Lucy put a few berries in the mouths of her friends. They had enough strength to at least chew the berries, since biting into a Pecha Berry also helped Rogue recover from Janine's poison that numbed his body, and the juice in the berries had been able to neutralize the poison in at least thirty to fifty seconds.

Lucy also moved aside to let Sting heal his friends by using a move known as White Dragon's Healing Light, and this move involved him placing his hands on the heads of the two mages who were now cured of their poisoning. The holy light of the white dragon could purify all things, and it had flowed through Sting's hands to heal Shelly and Rogue. They were both brought back to full health, as well as having any injuries that were external or internal be healed quickly, and Shelly stood up first. She created a small mirror out of ice to see how her hair and face looked, as Rogue also stood up, and now the whole group was feeling pretty good.

Shelly told her friends in a delighted tone, smiling kindly while she was pleased that Janine had been taken down, "It feels great to be cured of that poison, you guys, and that battle was certainly splendid. That's right, Lucy. This is a great time to let you know that TMs exist on this side of Fiore, and they are compact discs that contain certain moves for certain people with certain types of magic. Compatibility is the main key, though, and I'm also seeing some chemistry in the aftermath of this battle. If we didn't come to Sting's rescue, he would've been kissed by that poisonous woman."

Rogue added in a calm manner, simply looking happy that they got the job done, "At least it was good to have you two back us up, Shelly and Lucy. Sting and I could not have gotten this S-Class job done without your help, and you have our thanks for taking down that venomous woman. Sting, you and Lucy should not be feeling like things are weird because of one little kiss. It does not mean that you have to stop dating or change how you act, since the kiss was really a total fluke, and love just has to come with a very natural flow for things to be really great. Just don't stress about it too much, and things will be all right."

Sting replied while looking shocked at what Rogue said, his blue eyes being filled with disbelief, "Man, you just had to eavesdrop on me and Lector having that talk last night about the kiss that me and Lucy shared. Not only did I help her deliver to final blow to Janine, but I also saved her life. If my attack had not pushed that flirty chick back a few feet, then Lucy would've fallen straight to the ground to hit it pretty hard. A cute face like hers doesn't need any damage, and she is also pretty cute. Maybe things can work out between us, if we just stick to the fun and enjoyment in this awesome romance."

Lucy told her friends while she looked joyful, her cocoa brown eyes filled with happiness as she gave Sting a warm hug, "They're exactly right, you know. Maybe we should just see the kiss as a stepping stone towards our desire to know each other. I really do have little feelings for you, Sting, and maybe fate made me crash into that woman to get her away from you. I really like being around you, and you're the guy who just makes me be so very happy. There are even times when I feel down about Fairy Tail treated me, and you lift my heart up with your words of confidence or your good looks. You're so incredibly great for me, Sting."

With the job now done, even though no money came out of it, Lucy and the others were now headed back to the Sabertooth guild for some fun that was really needed after handling a pretty toxic task. They now felt that their team was fully feeling good again, since even a little kiss could not mess things up, and Sting gently held Lucy's right hand in his left hand while Shelly made a puddle of water appear on the ground for Water Warp to be used. Lucy blushed a bit while looking at Sting, causing him to blush as well while he grinned, and let's just say that imagining Lucy in that white towel for a moment truly made Sting feel better about he fact that he had shared a kiss with Lucy.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 8? Did you like it? Sting and Lucy have now gotten past the accidental kiss, and more StiCy is on the way! Sorry for not having Fairy Tail's side plot in this chapter, but the next chapter is where things get pretty crazy. Will some words from Natsu cause Erza to check Lucy's old mailbox, and what does she find in there? Will Lucy have some more fun with Sting while learning about this side of Fiore, and what do they help Shelly steal? Standby for the update! <strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Treasure, Truth, and... Taking on Her?!<strong>

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><p>An entire week had gone by, since the day that Lucy headed to the town of Fuchsia with Shelly for the job of taking down a Poison Demon Slayer who was known as Janine, and the two girls were now sitting at a table in the guildhall of Sabertooth. They were seated at the table with Sting and Rogue, who were glad that the girls had been helping them out on so many great jobs, and this was actually a free day for everyone. So many tasks had been taken care of by this tight group of four people, those tasks even involving the fact that some infamous gangsters using Poison Magic were also captured, and the reward had been split evenly for the members of the foursome to each get 700,000 jewels.<p>

Lucy had really liked doing jobs with her new friends, especially when Sting would be by her side, and the chemistry between them had been growing slowly like a sapling that would sprout into a lovely tree that would bear tons of tasty fruit. She sat next to the white dragon slayer, letting her head rest on his left arm while a smile of joy formed on her face, and the cologne that the blue-eyed male wore had made the blonde girl take a whiff of him to sigh happily. There was definitely a romance going on in the lives of the two blondes, which Shelly and Rogue already knew about, and things were looking up for this great group.

Sting did not really have any plans for the group today, since there would possibly be trouble in some of the towns that were close to Cerulean, and doing work on a day-to-day basis would just cause the team to feel boredom at the end of it all. He did not want them to feel like every single day would have to involve working before wanting to relax, causing him to smirk in a cocky manner about an idea that formed in his mind, but let us just say that Sting also had to figure out what the plan for the idea would be. Despite the fact that he thought it would be good, there was also a chance that other people had plans of their own.

Rogue thought that it would be a great idea to see what Yukino had been doing with Rufus and Orga, since those three mages had not been seen around the guild for a while, but Sting thought that they should just leave them alone. He did not want to tell Yukino that Lucy was the newest mage to the guild of Sabertooth, since that may lead to Orga joking about how Shelly now had Lucy's help to be as nasty as Minerva was, but the black-haired Water Demon Slayer was not a total sadist that wanted to be in control of everything. Besides, after she had seen Minerva's defeat at the hands of Erza in last year's Grand Magic Games, she found that strict woman to be nothing but a failure.

There was nothing that Lucy could really think of doing, since she was still fairly new to this side of Fiore, so the brown-eyed girl knew that the idea of fun for today would now be in the hands of Shelly. Even if they had to go ice skating on a frozen pond, it would still be a great way for Sting to catch Lucy if she fell to the ground. Winter sports were not exactly her strong point, since Loke once summoned himself to save her from snowboarding right off a cliff when she missed the harsh curve on a trail known as Icy Devil's Victory Road, so her chances of surviving this day of fun would be based on whatever Shelly wanted to do.

The calm woman told her friends in a kind manner, smiling happily before she pulled a lipstick dispenser out of the left pocket of her blue jeans to put the beautiful color of cherry red on her nice lips, "Instead of taking a job where we have to beat down criminals or destroy a bunch of angry bees, let's just make a task of our own. You see, there is a certain treasure in Fiore that I really want to get my hands on. Many people have said that the treasure is false, how it's all just a big rumor that faded into history, but I enjoy finding riches among the tales of legends and lore. They are truly exciting, especially when the media adores my streak of discoveries."

Lucy replied while looking joyful that this would be a simple treasure hunt, glad that they could possibly get to find ancient artifacts or an old civilization from past times, "Shelly, it sounds really great to hunt for treasure in ancient places. We may even find things that other people failed to see, and that will be really awesome. We may find a giant treasure chest full of money, or some great item that wields a very amazing power. You're the one who is choosing where we'll all go, though, so that means you must have even the slightest idea about what the treasure could be."

Sting sighed a bit while he thought the possible trove of treasure was fake, letting Shelly know that some rumors could actually be correct, but that only caused her to narrow her aqua blue eyes and tell the white dragon slayer that he was afraid of being beaten to the riches. Lucy assured Sting this would really be fun, and it didn't have to turn into some big contest to see who would get the treasure. Besides, there was still the possibility of it only being an empty chest. That would certainly be a total waste of time, and there was also the chance that the treasure could be a nasty monster. Even if that was the case, it made Sting smirk in a more confident manner about this fun task.

He was glad that Lucy would be going on this job with him, since she had made him feel less bored about doing certain jobs, and Sting could only stand up while holding her right hand in his left hand. He gave Lucy a hug of warmth, glad to have her by his side, and Sting blushed a light shade of pink while noticing that the brown-eyed girl was wearing blueberry perfume. This was similar to the blueberry body wash that she had used one day, the same day where Sting saw her in only a towel, and he could only pull away from her from a moment to lick some chocolate off of her left cheek. She had eaten Belgian chocolate waffles this morning, even though Lucy could sometimes be a messy eater with sweet things, but Sting had been nice enough to clean her face to keep it looking beautiful as always.

His act of kindness had made Lucy giggle in a happy manner, knowing that Natsu would never do anything so very nice for her, and Sting had made her see another one of his good points. She could feel the warmth in her heart, loving the fuzzy feeling that her body would have while she was around Sting, and Lucy sighed happily before giving a soft kiss to his left cheek. She had never really told him about this, but Lucy was hoping that they could go to the beach today. She wanted to see him with his shirt and pants off, leaving him shirtless while he would only be wearing his boxers or briefs, and remembering the sight of Sting's muscles had made Lucy go back into his arms to be hugging him for a few more moments.

She loved how Sting could be such a charming guy, having an amazing personality that really went well with his looks, and Lucy was starting to feel a little bit glad about the kiss that they shared. It had really brought them closer together, coupled with the fact that they were caring for each other during the fight with Janine, and Lucy knew that their bond could grow in many ways. She would love the idea of being Sting's partner on this joyful mission, but the group of four would be sticking together in unknown territory. Besides, Lucy still did not exactly know every place on this side of Fiore. The next few jobs would be a pretty great tour for her, though.

As Shelly let the group know that they were headed to a place known as Waterfall Cave, the famous place where rumors had been stirred up about a treasure being kept there for many years, Lucy had to quickly wonder why no one could find a cave near a waterfall. Her icy friend explained that people thought the cave was near it, but they had always been incorrect. On top of that, it was tough to get past an obstacle that had water pouring down from it with such high speed and intense density. However, let's just say that a watery tricks from a certain Demon Slayer would make things be much easier for the group. Really, would this adventure not be fun?

While Shelly led the way out of the guildhall for her friends to follow the clever woman's path to the treasure that she desired, Lucy smiled happily at Sting. She knew that this would be a great treasure hunt, mainly since she might get to see Sting use Holy Nova on a wall to uncover some gold bars, and a certain reckless fire dragon slayer would not ruin things for everyone. Natsu did have the habit of burning down towns on some jobs, resulting in his team getting no reward at all, but at least he was gone from Lucy's life. Would she ever end up crossing paths with him at any point in time, though, and how was her old guild of conflict doing on this very fine day that could be treasured like riches?

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Erza had been sitting down at the bar for a while now, eating a cheeseburger with large french fries that had been made for her by Mira, and the guild had oddly not been rowdy for two straight weeks. The guild members had all been too busy with their own lives, some of them not even wanting to deal with the fact that Lucy was still gone, and the scarlet-haired woman was also wearing only a white kimono for now while her Heart Kreuz Armor was getting repaired. Some of her other armors also needed immense amounts of repair, possibly not able to be fixed to the point of complete recognition, and this had taken her by surprise. Well, let's just start by saying that she got quite a surprise three days ago. Mira had asked about what happened, so Erza simply had to tell her.

She had gone out on a job to the place known as Magma Cavern with Natsu and Lisanna, going on the S-Class job with only those two because Gray was still miffed at the team for how they treated Lucy, and that cavern had been feeling like the inside of an oven. Natsu kept on eating the lava, since the high amount of it was like heaven to his body, and he also had to help Lisanna jump across a few rocks that were not stable in the lava. Erza had requipped into her Black Wing Armor to simply fly over the lava while the job had involved taking down someone who had been causing trouble for people who wanted some treasure, but she found herself falling down to the other side of the room while Natsu and Lisanna kept jumping from rock to rock.

The trio went into the cave that would lead them to the next room of the Magma Cavern, but they were quickly struck by a large vortex of fire that came towards them. Natsu tried to eat the flames, but these were not edible for a dragon slayer. Erza looked around the room to see that it was filled with lava while only a lone pillar stood in its center, the attack obviously coming from the person who stood on that pillar, and her brown eyes caught sight of a large red treasure chest behind the fiery attacker. This person quickly threw a fireball at Erza, but she groaned in pain from that last attack making burns on her skin. It melted her Black Wing Armor, too.

Narrowing her brown eyes, Erza was quick enough to change into her Flame Empress Armor for the sake of having her Flame Sword reduce the power of this foe's fire attacks. Even as she slashed her sword at the fireball, though, Erza could only gasp in shock as her opponent's fireball created a large explosion! She was caught in the blast, screaming in pain while the fire damaged most of her back, and it had also damaged her from the front. Its heat was hotter than Natsu's, burning away her Flame Empress Armor, and Erza groaned in frustration having to requip into her Heaven's Wheel Armor.

As she decided to fly in zigzag pattern to confuse her foe, who was a girl with wavy red hair and red eyes, Erza was surprised to see this person release a red-orange stream of fire from their mouth. It curved around Erza for a moment, before simply making a loop to strike her right in the face. She had managed to close her eyes while being caught in another fiery explosion of energy, feeling her this armor melt as well, and Erza could not requip into anything without seeing it melt or be burnt off from her body. This meant her enemy's flames had been fused with the ability known as Fire Demon's Flame Body, and that was a very dangerous ability of Fire Demon Slayer Magic.

It could basically inflict its volcanic flames on to all items of Holder Magic that were switched out in battle, as well as letting the fiery user cast spells back-to-back in a great attempt to counter spells of Caster Magic with some pretty hot power, and Erza had the bad luck of having her armors melting away right now because of the flames being passed on to them. She could only groan in pain, as her swords had been met with the same fate as her armors, and her skin had gotten charred while she screamed in pain from the power of the flames. Natsu was able to save Erza by jumping into the lava to catch her as she fell, but all that the duo and Lisanna could really do was run away from that vicious fight. Really, though, who would be so cocky to take a mission that involved fighting an enemy who wasn't the typical foe?

"You've got to be kidding me. Seriously, this is just a really bad amount of karma looming around Team Natsu. If you guys hadn't been so selfish to keep Lucy from knowing that she was being cheated on, things would've been better for you. I mean, think about it. Lucy could've pulled out Sagittarius to make him shoot some spinning arrows at the flames, thus having the enemy's fire spiral around the arrows to engulf them, and it would've been like hitting that girl with her own spinning flames. Flame-brain can't eat his own flames, so it's possibly the same for her. You guys really got rid of Lucy sooner than necessary." Gray explained in a stern manner, glaring at Erza while he sat down at a table with Juvia.

Erza replied back in a harsh manner, as she tried to get up before screaming from how the burns were still hurting her brown skin, "Enough with that, Gray! Lucy is gone, but you can't say that she would've been of any use to us on that job. Lucy always has to rely on her Celestial Spirits to do things for her, since she can't really do much on her own. Natsu replaced her with Lisanna because he wanted to be with his new love, even though kicking her off of the team was going a bit too far, but there is nothing that we can do about it. She is with the Sabertooth guild now, and I bet that place is full of cohesive teams."

Natsu added while looking happy, as he sat down at a table with Lisanna, "Lucy is just going to get thrown out by those guys, too, and then she'll just come back here to cause drama about me and Lisanna being in love. Life will be back to normal, but I still want to know who won the contest for that vacation at the luxury resort. I know that Lucy and Lisanna were both dating me at the time that I wrote the entry letters for me and Lisanna to win prizes, but it's sad that my white-haired angel only got one prize when she should've gotten two. Seriously, there must've been some kind of mess up about that. Oh, well. I'm saving up cash for me and Lisanna to go there, anyway."

The topic of Lucy had made Erza feel a bit miffed, especially by how Gray was making his old team look like they were the worst people in the whole world, and she felt pain all over her body while she tried to move. The flames of the Fire Demon Slayer had also reduced Erza's magical power to nearly zero, as one of the side effects from having dealt with a high amount of fire from a person who could make their fiery spells consume someone's magic from hitting them or their weapons, and the other side effect made the scarlet-haired woman have a very high fever. It had been going on for three days now while Erza found herself unable to sweat at all, and she sternly told her friends that she was just going to see if Lucy had any mail in her old mailbox.

Mira was not sure why Erza wanted to see if Lucy was still getting mail delivered to her old home, since Natsu had told the white-haired barmaid that Lucy left on the same day that the contest winner was supposed to be announced, but she did know that Erza was not in top shape to be moving around right now. Erza could not even take two steps without fainting, falling backwards to make a hard thud on the floor as she stepped on the back of the white outfit that Mira picked out for her, and the fact that her attacker's flames affected her stamina was also pretty bad. She kept trying to summon up her magical power, only to have Mira tell the scarlet-haired knight that all of her main armors and weapons were now destroyed.

This certainly was a cause for alarm, mainly since there were only six people in the guild right now because of the fact that everyone else had gone out on jobs, and there was no time to wait for someone to return. While Lisanna was hoping that a dark guild wouldn't challenge them to a war right now, Gray also telling her that it was wrong to have the audacity to look through mail that was not even hers, Mira could only look saddened at how Erza's argument with Gray and the stress about Lucy had made this hot illness get worse. There was no doubt that the Fairy Tail guild was starting to implode, losing the nice blonde girl that was so nice, and this was karma.

She did not want Erza to go out alone in the hot sun, since that would just cause more trouble to arise, and seeing her pant heavily from dealing with having no magical power was tough to watch. Mira knew that flames had to be fought with the only thing that could cancel them out, and her blue eyes widened in amazement from realizing that she had gotten a little reward from doing an easy job in Cinnabar Town. She pulled out a small green vial from the drawer near the barrels that had cola bottles in them, and this vial had something known as Rawst Berry Perfume in it. This type of perfume was rather pungent, since the berries themselves could make pies taste gross, but a guy named Blaine once told Mirajane that the fumes from this vial could heal a person's ailments that were associated with Fire Magic.

Mira opened up the vial to release a large amount of green smoke, causing herself and Erza to cough in disgust while Natsu fell to the ground with Lisanna, and Juvia was really the only one who liked it. Natsu looked like he had just tasted the most bitter food in all of Fiore while Lisanna put her hands over her mouth, and Gray's nose was hardly sensitive. He had to wonder why the others were freaking out so much, but his dark blue eyes also caught sight of Erza beginning to feel better while she inhaled the perfume's scent. It made Erza be relieved of her fever, which was good, but her only equipment right now was a white kimono that did nothing. She looked a bit miffed at the sight of Gray going out of the guild to do something that seemed a little personal, since he also left Team Natsu, but why stay on a team with the lack of cohesion?

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><p><strong>30 minutes later, at the waterfall...<strong>

Shelly and the other members of her group had now arrived at the waterfall, looking for any signs of the cave that was hiding the treasure, and the foursome had taken two different paths to end up on both sides of the stream where the water was pouring down into. Lucy and Sting were standing on the grass while they were on the left side of the stream, and Rogue was on the right side with Shelly while they were standing on some tree branches. The waterfall was making the water pound down into the stream with such a high amount of density, though, so getting past it would prove to truly be difficult. Even touching the water made Lucy pull her hand away, as the water came down so fast and hard.

Lucy knew that they had to do something about the water, since that was the obstacle in this search, so she looked determined while pulling out the Celestial Spirit Key to summon her blue-haired spirit known as Aquarius. The mermaid was now in the stream, looking a bit miffed while she had guessed that Lucy needed to get rid of the waterfall, and she was able to copy Juvia's Water Cyclone from seeing it in the Naval Battle during last year's Grand Magic Games. She fired a circular torrent of water from her urn, hoping that the water pressure would make a dent of some kind, but it sadly had hardly any effect on the waterfall.

Aquarius then decided to smirk a bit, now making her urn take in the waterfall's water, and she fired a Water Cyclone at Lucy. The blonde mage was sent flying back against a tree, before groaning in pain, and she simply giggled in a sheepish manner while sending her ally back to the Celestial Spirit World. It was clear that this waterfall was not going to let up anytime soon, and its density was just being a real pest. Lucy knew that something had to be done, but what would solve this problem? Even Sting looked confused about what to do, but Rogue and Shelly were acting pretty calm about this whole situation.

The Water Demon Slayer knew that there was no way for her to consume all of the water that was pouring down right now, since it would just cause her to swell up like a balloon, but she did have a little idea about how to reverse the flow. The black-haired woman used a spell known as Ice Inflation, and this move simply caused her to shoot out a small ice floe from her hand. It made a small splash in the water while floating up to the surface, making Lucy drop her jaw at Shelly's supposed stupidity, but who was to say that a floe couldn't stop a flow?

As the ice floe was directly in front of the falling water, Lucy looked stunned to see it taking in the water like a sponge. It began to expand and grow bigger as well, not even hurt by the waterfall pounding down on it, and the ice floe kept on growing while its side effect could freeze anything that came into contact with it. To put it simply, the ice was freezing the waterfall and the river that led to it. This would only last for a short time, however, due to the hot sun shining in the sky right now. Shelly knew that there was now a way to find the cave, due to the white ice being transparent enough to show it, and Shelly used the Water Pulse spell to suddenly break the ice!

A large light blue blast of Water Demon Slayer Magic transpired, making Lucy looked more shocked at Shelly's actions, but there was no water flowing down. It had all turned into glacial chunks of ice, meaning that Shelly's ice was at a really cold temperature, and she had confidence in her blue eyes while she jumped up to a chunk of ice as it fell. Sting used his White Dragon's Roar on the ground while he picked up Lucy in his arms, and the two mages had the perfect timing to get into the cave before an ice chunk had fallen down on them. Rogue had simply moved through the shadows of the ice chunks to get in the cave, but everyone was shocked to see that Shelly's blast had left puddles of water on the ice chunks. To make things even weirder, she stood behind them with a calm smirk on her face.

"Shelly, can I ask you a really quick question? If you were just going to freeze the ice and Water Warp your way up here, then what was the real point of having us think that we had to stop the waterfall? In fact, wouldn't it have made more sense to just use your spell on all of the dense water or in the stream to get all of us up there much faster? Do you not try to find the smartest ways to solve problems, and isn't it too flashy and environmentally damaging to freeze a river and destroy a waterfall?" Lucy asked her friend in a shocked manner, looking astounded at the fact that they could've spent less time being puzzled if Shelly used the Water Pulse move and ice floe in the first place.

The demon slayer wielding water and ice had replied in a calm manner, putting a finger to Lucy's lips, "It wouldn't be a fun search for the treasure, if we had found the easy way to stop the waterfall. You're still new here, Lucy, and there is still much for you to learn. In fact, this side of Fiore is filled with excitement in many places. This cave is just one of them, but you may even find some fun in the town of Saffron. Those psychics can be a pain, but we'll get to them later. For now, let's just follow the path into the cave to find all of the secrets that it holds."

As Shelly led the way into the cave while Rogue was the first one to follow her, Sting let Lucy know that Shelly could be somewhat of a pain when it came to treasure. She always loves to find the riches for the sake of keeping everyone wealthy, and her level of power even scared him. She froze the blast of his White Dragon's Holy Breath when he first recruited her into the guild, so she could make a fight get pretty real if Lucy was to make complaints about her leadership skills. Even though the tanned woman was looking for treasure, Sting kindly told Lucy that she was more beautiful than any gem that he had ever seen.

This made Lucy blush a light shade of pink while she looked into Sting's eyes, loving how he was always such a great guy, and the blonde girl had warmth in her cocoa brown eyes while her heart fluttered again. Sting also gave her a soft kiss on the cheek to soothe her qualms about Shelly, making Lucy sigh happily, and she could feel her cares about this mission slowly dying down. Being beside the guy who she liked was greater than getting any kind of treasure, and this fun quest for the day would just let Lucy be around Sting for a while. If there were any rats in this cave, however, he would definitely kill them to keep her calm while showing off his awesomeness.

She could not stop thinking about the day at the beach, though, since that's where Lucy got to see Sting with his shirt off. If she had only let him get wet from the waterfall, then Lucy could've possibly been held by him in one arm while he would've scaled up the cliff with her. She would've gotten to have her head against his chest while he carried her up to the cave, and Sting was just so hot. Lucy continued to blush while resting her head on his left shoulder, happily walking into the cave with him, and she did not even care for the upcoming discovery. This cave was rather small, but the end of it was still the perfect place to hide something that was valuable.

While Sting was walking through the cave with Lucy, he could only smirk in a pleased manner at how she wore a brown T-shirt with some khaki shorts today. She had been wearing some chocolate brown sneakers as well while her hair was down, and Sting blushed more while he noticed that Lucy's pants had mud on the back of them. The inside of this cave did feel muddy, meaning that the person who hid the treasure would make water come into the cave sometimes, and the job request for finding this treasure had appeared today. Even though this fun task didn't involve much work, the white dragon slayer had to wonder why he was seeing glimmering lights in this cave. They seemed to be coming from the close end of the cave, meaning that someone wanted to either make this a party or be the party crasher to steal the treasure in the end.

The group of four had quickly arrived at the end of this cave, since it was very small, and there were so many gems on the walls. The gems were in many different colors, making Shelly's eyes be filled with joy while she used Water Magic to make the indentations slippery enough for the gems to start falling on to the ground, and she put them all in a rectangular box that she made out of ice. Lucy noticed that there was a stream of water on the ground, meaning that this cave was actually connected to another place if it was pouring out water somewhere, and there was a large pink gem wedged in the wall that could be seen from everyone's frontal view.

There was also a golden treasure chest in this room as well, possibly filled with riches, and Rogue opened it to simply find a light blue orb. He calmly called Shelly over to this lone item, not knowing what it was, and she smirked with delight while getting it into her hands. She let everyone know that this was the Aqua Orb, an item capable of powering up both Water Magic and Ice Magic, but it was more than just valuable for power. This orb could also make Shelly's blue room look pretty good, which made her feel happy, and she'd simply keep it in her dorm room as a lovely decoration.

Lucy and Sting went to check out the large pink gem that was wedged in the wall, though, and they tried to pull it out. The giant gem did not budge at all, even after Sting used his White Dragon's Roar on it, and Lucy had an idea. She tried to pick up the gem, but that idea also quickly hit the wall. Both of them wondered why this gem could not move, since pulling on it had gotten them nowhere, so Sting simply pushed it back into the space while unknowingly pressing a small button on the gem. Even though the gem could not be moved, as Shelly walked over to the scene with Rogue, everything seem to be done.

However, the sounds of rumbling within the cave could be heard. Lucy hugged Sting while looking worried about what had made that sound, the blue-eyed male looking a bit embarrassed by how it quickly happened after he pushed the gem back into what seemed to be its proper place, and Shelly sighed in frustration while a large flood came towards the group. It made Lucy scream in fear, the flood's pressure sending the four Sabertooth mages out of the cave, and this was certainly a weird adventure for everyone. Shelly had put the orb in the icy box with her other gems, glad that they were safe, but where would the flood take her group?

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, outside Lucy's old apartment...<strong>

Gray needed to get away from his former friends in Fairy Tail for a while, really hating how they did not think that Lucy was really useful to them, and the fact of the matter was that she had really been a nice person. Natsu was wrong to cheat on her with Lisanna, especially when he made other people keep that affair from reaching the ears of his blonde ex, and Gray just wanted to know where Lucy could be. Unlike Natsu and Erza, who were always so busy having fun with Lisanna, Gray really missed Lucy. He wanted her to come back, even for a moment, but that was nothing more than a pipe dream at this point.

He really missed having a friend like Lucy, someone who was so very nice, and she was also pretty cute. Gray knew that she did not deserve to be told lies by the people that she thought of as true friends, and they were so horrible to her. It really hurt the ice mage to know that Lucy would always have the memory of knowing that Natsu had used her like a pawn in his stupid game, something that was just so wrong, and Gray wanted to help his blonde friend be happy. He would have to find her, though, and Lucy's current location was nothing more than a mystery to Gray.

He stood outside her old apartment, looking back on the times that she would kick Natsu out of her house, and not seeing her come to Fairy Tail anymore had made Gray hope that she was doing well. The black-haired male felt bad about not even knowing that Natsu had an affair with Lisanna, and he wished that it had been possible for him to force that secret out of someone in the guild. It was not fair that Lucy had been played like that, especially by the same people that she really trusted, and Gray definitely would've let her know if that jerk Natsu was being a total traitor. He was utterly despicable, and Gray could not tolerate users.

While he had been thinking about missing Lucy, though, Gray had to really wonder why Erza wanted to check out the old mailbox of the blonde mage. It's not like her mail ever got mixed in with stuff for Lucy, since they clearly did not share the same address, and it wasn't like Lucy and Minerva were both writing letters to each other that contained hateful things about Erza. She really had no reason to snoop through Lucy's mail, if she even had anything in the mailbox, but Gray would play it safe by taking the mail and keeping it from Erza. After how she had been a fake friend to Lucy, she didn't deserve to see the celestial spirit wizard or any magazines in her mailbox.

The ice mage quickly opened the mailbox to find that it was nearly empty, only having a simple blue envelope with a blue letter inside of it, and Gray took it out of the mailbox for his eyes to see what it was. Judging by how it was in a blue color, as well as having blue paper for the letter as well, Gray had to think twice before assuming that this was the lone blue letter for the winner of that contest to stay at a luxury resort. Lucy had not even entered that contest, so there was no way that she could've been the one to end up winning the grand prize. She also had no way of tampering with a contest based on luck, but how did fate end up giving her first place?

Taking the letter out of the envelope, Gray read to himself in a calm manner, "Congratulations, lucky winner. You have just won an all-expense paid voyage to the fabulous town of Cerulean, a lovely paradise for anyone wanting to have a great vacation in Fiore, and you get to stay in the most prestigious resort that's only exclusive to the best guild in the entire country! If you are not satisfied with what your current guild has to offer, you can take this trip through a puddle of water. Taking a train or a boat won't get you to the vacation that you want to see, so that's why exclusive invites or contest wins to this resort will guide cool people like you to the location in secrecy."

At that moment, Gray closed the mailbox while looking totally shocked. Lucy was all the way in Cerulean Town, far on the other side of Fiore, and she had been the winner of the contest? How on Earthland had that been possible, though, since she did not enter? Gray guessed that Lucy must've sent in an entry at the last moment or something, and maybe the person deciding the winner of that contest had saved the best for last. It seemed that the winner also had to switch guilds as well, something that would not have taken much thought for Lucy, and Gray's look of shock turned into somewhat of a smile.

It was true that Lucy was gone, far from ever seeing the town of Magnolia for a while, but Gray found the bright side to this. Lucy would never have to deal with Natsu trying to tell her any dirty lies, and the wielder of ten Golden Zodiac Gate Keys would never have to see Natsu and Lisanna sharing any kisses. She would also not have to deal with people lying to her, especially when Erza and Cana would not be honest with her, and the final bright side that the ice mage had seen was kind of bittersweet for him. Lucy would be finding a new guy to be with, and Gray had really thought that she was cute.

He had not made any advances towards her because of the fact that she had been with Natsu, really not wanting to get into a fight with a guy who was so dense, but it did look like Lucy had found out about his affair. She had been in the guild when Natsu was talking about ousting her from the team, even though Gray did not know that she was there, and the snitch who told her about Natsu's affair was really Natsu himself. He had some loose lips, which proved to be a big flaw in that relationship, and the fact that Lucy had one prize without entering while Lisanna had been missing one prize had really made things clear for Gray.

This could really help him hit Natsu with his fatal flaw, as well as getting Erza and Cana to possibly see how Lucy was doing good without any liars around her, and this could also make Natsu possibly want Lucy back. After seeing the newspaper from before, it was obvious that Lucy was in Sabertooth. Gray did not really need to imagine her kissing Sting or Rogue, but that's what he'd put in Natsu's mind. Hearing that Sting was supposedly being Lucy's new guy, which was ironically the truth, would make Natsu want Lucy back. That would make Lisanna pretty miffed, especially if the letter would cause her even more confusion, but Gray was not being evil here.

He simply wanted people to stop talking bad about Lucy, so that was possible by making them talk bad about each other. Natsu's large alliance in Fairy Tail would blow up right in his face because of the fact that Lucy won the prize that was meant for Lisanna, and that would seem like betrayal. Erza would also be mad if Juvia let her know that Lucy was now in the same guild as Minerva, getting to tell Titania's worst enemy about her gross secrets and her love for smut novels, and rich places were where the media was heavily concentrated. Gray was also going to let Cana know that Lucy had a new best friend, and that was bad karma for the card mage. That big alliance would implode, but Gray had to get people in his own alliance for the sake of seeing a cocky crew of deceivers cause their own self-destruction. Of course, he would be a great actor as well to hide his motives. Gray decided to keep the letter with him while he walked off, not knowing that another ally would eventually make their own discovery.

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><p><strong>At the luxurious resort...<strong>

The flood had sent Lucy and her friends straight to a dead end, causing that spot to fill up with water, and Shelly did not want to consume it all. She also knew that freezing the water would just make it hard for everyone to get out, so she used the Water Warp spell to take everyone back to the guild of Sabertooth. Their mission of fun had been accomplished, with Shelly now having the great treasure for her room, and that was actually another thing that she had stolen from the people in Fairy Tail. That had been hidden in a place where Makarov thought that no one would find it, as well as making a trap for anyone who got distracted by the giant gem, but the fairies were not very good at stashing stuff away.

Lucy did not know that her friend was stealing a bunch of stuff from Fairy Tail, even though they had been stupid enough to not keep quiet about some things that they thought were useless, but the blonde girl really did not care for that right now. She was happy that Sting agreed to go on the job today, even though he had only got them caught in a trap, and he was also possibly miffed that his idea for fun wasn't chosen today. Sting had put everyone else's thoughts before his own, though, but maybe he didn't have much fun on a hunt that didn't involve showing off much of his skills.

She had decided to relax from that mission with a bath in the hot springs, not even knowing that this was the day for mixed bathing, and Lucy simply looked happy while going into one of the indoor hot springs that could be seen on the way to the beach. Lucy had walked out of the fitting rooms to reach a close hot spring that was nearby, since it was in the other room, and she left her clothes in the fitting room while not even knowing that the stall next to her had possessed a certain guy's clothes while he also got out of the fitting room. Wow, this was sure to be quite interesting.

As Lucy noticed that this room had light blue walls with dark blue carpeting, coupled with a hot spring that was filled with boiling water, she sighed happily while simply walking over to where she would enjoy her bath. Lucy took off her white towel, revealing her beautiful body, and she blushed a light shade of pink while accidentally tripping into the water. That prompted a certain guy to save her, making him remove his own white towel as well, and he closed the door to this room before jumping in the hot spring to rescue the brown-eyed girl. He was going to save her, even though the hot spring was not as deep as an ocean, and this was a great act of romance.

Sting swam down into the hot water, grabbing Lucy while swimming up to the surface with her, and he smiled a bit from seeing that she spat out some water at him. He never wanted her to go through any bad times ever again, really wanting to protect her from danger, but she did not know that it was the day for mixed bathing in the hot springs. This meant that guys could bathe in the same hot springs as the girls, even though it was only for once a week, and Sting had made it clear that babies weren't allowed in his guild. He never liked to hear all of that crying in his ears, and it was also tough to deal with anyone who showed any signs of being pregnant.

"Sting, why are you here? Isn't this supposed to be one of the hot springs for women, or am I in the wrong place? By the way, did you not have fun on Shelly's hunt for treasure?" Lucy asked in a concerned manner while turning away from him, blushing a light shade of pink at the fact that she was not wearing any clothes while he had been shirtless and looking so very hot.

The wielder of White Dragon Slayer Magic replied in a calm tone, assuring Lucy that he was not a pervert while he looked apologetic, "Today is mixed bathing day for people who want to be in the hot springs, Lucy, and you chose the same place where I was going to relax. As for Shelly's little mission, I really think that she just doesn't pick great treasure-hunting missions. She just really shouldn't try to lead a team while I'm on the same task with her, since you might probably say that I'm a better leader. Tomorrow, you and I should go alone on a job. I want to build up our chemistry, Lucy, and you're the coolest girl that I've ever met."

Sting's words had made Lucy feel really good that she got him to say what was on his mind about Shelly, glad that he got to tell her his feelings about the mission, and she turned around to face him while blushing a light shade of pink. Lucy still could not keep calm while seeing Sting shirtless in the hot spring, her heart beating with warmth while feelings of romance were in her cocoa brown eyes, and she swam into his arms for the chance to rest her head against his chest. This was such a great feeling, her hands gently rubbing Sting's chest, and Lucy sighed happily while looking into his calm blue eyes.

She became lost in his charming eyes, loving the fact that she was with him right now, and Lucy pressed her body against his to heat up the moment. Sting blushed red while feeling her push up against him, making the white dragon slayer let his hands rub her back gently. They even moved down to her soft buns, causing the blonde mage to giggle at Sting for what he had just done, and she responded by kissing his chest. Sting could also feel her hands moving to his arms, which were ticklish, and he could only chuckle in pleasure at how playful Lucy could be. She was so nice and sweet, and he really had to repay her for saving him from Janine.

Lucy was a Plant Demon Slayer, so very kind to many kinds of plants that she came across, and she had been nice enough to heal the roses on Sting's office desk. Anyone knew that plants needed light to grow, and light was needed to give beautiful colors to things like trees and fruits. Sting and Lucy needed each other, just like how they liked spending time together, and Sting gave a soft kiss on the lips to the celestial spirit wizard. Sting pulled away after a few seconds, though, because he knew that the last guy to ever kiss Lucy had been Natsu. He didn't know if she was fully over him, or if a kiss on the lips would make her feel uncomfortable because it could bring back memories of him.

Sting hoped that she would not start crying, since that would be a bad sign, but he was shocked by what Lucy had done next. She hugged him tightly for some comfort that she still needed, making Sting smile a bit while returning the hug to her, and Lucy smiled softly while being glad that she still had a true chance at love. Sting's kiss had felt so gentle, not like how Natsu would put force into kissing her with his deceitful lips, and she could always smell sweet candy from his lips like he had been with Lisanna. That was not the case with Sting, though, and his lips tasted so pure like fruit that was very sweet. She could only sigh happily from feeling him rub her back in a comforting manner, and they stayed like that for a while. Lucy knew that she had to move on from her past, and Sting knew that helping her handle the past was the best way to let it burn in its blaze of idiotic flames.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 9? Did you like it? The StiCy chemistry keeps building up, and it will reach the boyfriendgirlfriend stage. Maybe in the next chapter or two, possibly. Sorry for changing from my initial plot, but so many messages were said about a Fire Demon Slayer being in the story. Her name was kept hidden for a future chapter that I have in mind, but she is an ass-kicker. The tables are about to get pretty rocky in this next chapter, so standby for the update! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Motives and Curiosity: The Incredible Intertwining<strong>

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><p>Lucy woke up in her room at the Sabertooth guild, having a very happy smile on her face, but her good mood did not only come from the fact that she had just woken up from a great dream about cake. She had not only helped Shelly look for a pretty treasure in the cave, but Lucy had also gotten a soft kiss from Sting on the previous day. That was enough to make the blonde girl have joy in her cocoa brown eyes, really glad that there was still a chance for her to be loved, and it was like a breath of fresh air for the celestial spirit wizard. She had never thought that any other guy would kiss her, since they would think that Natsu's nasty kisses still left their taste on her lips, but fate helped her out.<p>

Sting was a pretty good kisser, even if it was just a quick little kiss, and he had most likely shown his love for Lucy because of how she had saved him from Janine back in the town of Fuchsia. It wasn't Lucy's fault that she picked out a cute bike that had been messed with, but her quick decision actually had a pretty good outcome. She was glad to have crashed into the violet-haired vixen by accident, since that helped Sting break free from her, and Lucy had also been given two new spells of Plant Demon Slayer Magic on that mission. She was glad to be building up her chemistry with Sting, looking towards the bright future, but Lucy knew that she'd also have to face her dark past.

In order for Lucy to want any chance at having a good future with Sting, she had to close the door on any people that had been bad to her in the past. There was still the possibility that they could end up taking a job that would lead them to the town of Cerulean, but Lucy let out a sigh of relief while she knew that the letter informing her about winning the contest had told her that this side of Fiore could not be reached by a boat or by a train. Maybe Shelly was the only one who could open up the path to Cerulean Town, since the Water Warp spell closed up quickly after Lucy sunk down into it, but that wouldn't explain how other people found this luxurious resort.

It was quite possible that many of them were living in this town, as well as living in other towns on this side of Fiore, and plenty of mages lived at this fabulous resort. Back to matter at hand, though, Lucy had to sever her ties with Natsu and her fake friends. She had not officially broken up with him, though, but this was the day to do it. Narrowing her brown eyes while she got out of bed, stretching her body out to make it less tense, Lucy knew that she had to really end things with Fairy Tail. Even if they would try to keep secret about Natsu's affair, Lucy would not hide anything from them. She would tell those guys off for how they treated her, since they let Natsu cheat on her.

Erza was one of the people who had really dealt a blow to Lucy's heart, since she had been like an older sister who cared for her nakama, but that was not the case. She had taken Natsu's side on this matter, since Lucy would supposedly start a crazy amount of drama over being cheated on, and even Cana had sided with the fire dragon slayer because of how Lisanna seemed so happy to be with him. She had also known the white-haired mage longer than the time that she knew Lucy, but the blonde girl had seen how Cana reacted when she brought up the topic of Natsu. People had been keeping secrets from her, and she was going to surprise them.

_"I never did a single thing to deserve being cheated on by that stupid jerk, and I will let Natsu know that I'm not stupid. It's true that I left things open-ended in Magnolia, not telling that guy how I now knew what he was doing behind my back, but now I'll show him that he was wrong to dump me. In fact, there's still no way to tell if my Plant Demon Slayer Magic can stand up to flames. Natsu might burn away my plants, so I'll need to think up something new." _Lucy thought to herself in a stern manner while determination entered her cocoa brown eyes, feeling really ready to put Natsu in his place for throwing her aside like she was just a tool to him.

As Lucy was about to unbutton her pink pajamas, ready to start this great morning off with a shower, a soft knock at the door got her attention. She had not fixed her hair, nor had she brushed her teeth yet, but who could be wanting to talk with her from the moment that she got out of bed? Even if it was just a delivery of some flowers from Sting, since he could be pretty sweet like that, his package would have good timing. Lucy still wanted to thank him for giving her that joyful kiss, since it had felt so very genuine while being filled with tons of love for the Celestial Spirit Wizard that could make plants and flowers not be so nice to her foes.

She walked over the door to open it with her ID card, only to have the door slowly open while Sting stood in front of her with a kind smile on his face. He had used his golden card to gain access into her room, as he had done the last time, but Sting did not get the chance to see Lucy in a towel today. He had heard her just wake up, clearly not impatient enough to make her go on the mission right now, and the white dragon slayer also knew that Dobengal finished delivering breakfasts to all of the guests at the resort. That guy was fast with room service, but Sting would not rush Lucy out on a mission before either of them had even eaten on this fine morning.

Sting had asked Lucy in a calm manner, letting her see his shiny white teeth while he grinned at the blonde girl in a flirty way for a few moments, "Good morning, Lucy. I kinda think that you're still trying to get over the fact that Natsu is a total jerk, but I really loved how flirty you got with me in the hot spring. I truly want to make you feel loved, since an awesome girl like you deserves to be with a great guy, but I really just have to know your thoughts. Would you ever like to kiss me again, or go out on another date with me to one of the cool towns in Fiore?"

Lucy happily let Sting know that she would be happy to go out on another date with him, really loving how he had taken her to that fancy cafe, and she gave him a soft hug while sighing happily. She blushed a light shade of pink while being pressed against him, her hands feeling his nice abs, and Lucy giggled while telling Sting that she really loved how he had kissed her so softly. His lips felt so much different than Natsu's, since that dense guy would force his kisses on to Lucy, but Sting had kissed her in such a calm way. No force was really needed for him to get flirty, which made Lucy love him even more.

He let her know that their job for the day would be similar to Shelly's little treasure hunt, despite the fact that no gold or money was even involved in it. Those gems from the cave had been sold for millions of jewels while Shelly gave no money to Sting, but he didn't care about cash right now. They were going to go all the way into the town of Magnolia to settle things with Natsu and the rest of the Fairy Tail guild, mainly because of the fact that Sting wanted Lucy to not be dragged down by her bitter past, and letting her tell off the pink-haired idiot in front of those deceitful former friends of hers would be the best revenge.

She did not have to beat up Natsu and Lisanna if she didn't want to, even though Sting was hoping that she would show Natsu that he couldn't get away with cheating on her, but Sting also did not want a guild war to break out. Even if Shelly could just freeze and drown all of the fairies, that would just cause havoc in Magnolia. It was also no surprise that Sting did not want his rep to be ruined as well, since the media would possibly say that Sabertooth attacked Fairy Tail out of malice, but he also knew that this was mainly Lucy's issue. He was going to let her decide about what to do, since she would actually have to make a few big choices today.

With that now settled, Sting was about to tell Lucy that they could go to Saffron Town for the sake of taking the Magnet Train to Magnolia. This train only stopped in that town on Sunday, which was the current day, but Lucy had to wonder if Sting would get motion sickness. He confidently let her know that all of the coffee served on the train was affected by Troia, a spell that could prevent motion sickness, and that made it easy for dragon slayers to eat food on the train. Lucy's stomach also growled loudly from the fact that she was hungry right now, and Sting simply chuckled while pointing to a large cheeseburger with twenty strips of bacon on the table in her room. That was her joyous breakfast, and Lucy had happiness in her eyes while she went to go eat it.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

With the letter for Lucy now in his possession, Gray had been smart enough to not really tell anyone about it. He had walked into the guild today to see that Natsu and Lisanna were happily cuddling at a table, acting like things were okay, but things were going to get quite rocky for those two. Erza sat down at the bar while she still wore that white kimono given to her by Mira, since the scarlet-haired woman's armors and weapons were still in a state of devastating disrepair, and Titania still looked miffed at the fact that a fiery enemy kicked her butt so easily. Those flames weren't even like what Natsu could create, since they had a rather evil nature to them.

Gray did not really care about what had happened to Erza, since she really deserved it for how she had ignored Lucy, and the black-haired male had a stern look in his dark blue eyes while he would see to it that Cana got the same punishment that Erza and the others would get. A real best friend would not keep secrets from the person who had really trusted them, and true friends would let a person know when they were getting cheated on. It seemed like people were caring more for the happiness of Lisanna, who seemed so very sweet, but was that a real reason to treat Lucy like she was trash? It was no excuse to act like she was a total stranger, you know.

The ice mage really hated the way that Natsu thought he was running things, thinking that his large alliance of people would keep helping him hide his affair from Lucy, and let's just say that Gray now had some allies of his own. He sat at a distant table with Juvia and Gajeel, far away from all of the other people who were liking how Lisanna looked today in an orange bikini that was taken from Lucy's closet by Natsu, and this little alliance of three was really going to make quite a big impact on the Fairy Tail guild. Gray just needed this plan to really work, though, since it would make such a big alliance implode now that the person they ignored was no longer wanting to be around them.

Juvia had been curious about why Gray called her and Gajeel over to the table, clearly having some crucial info to share with them, but what would it be? Could the blue-haired woman even make this big plan go right for Gray, or would she do something to mess it up? This was a very huge plan that could make Natsu's big crew crumble like concrete that had been hit pretty hard, being good enough to dismantle that huge alliance, and all that Gray needed from his allies was to make sure that they followed his tactics. Since he did have the letter with him, an item that was actual evidence of Natsu making a few dents in his two relationships, Gray could show everyone that Natsu was supposedly more conflicted than cunning.

In order for the ball to now be rolling, Gray calmly told Juvia that she would have to start off this plan by acting really freaked out. He also smiled a bit while letting her know that Erza was her target, getting the blue envelope and letter out of the left pocket of his purple shirt, and Gray would simply work on Lisanna. Getting her and Natsu riled up was the main key in this, as well as having Erza cause trouble, but Gray was not doing anything evil. He was simply going to make this big alliance tear itself apart, just like how they had made Lucy's heart shatter into many pieces, and the blonde girl would definitely know that Gray was a friend to her if she saw what he was about to instigate.

"Gray-sama, that just can't be! The blue letter is only for the winner of that grand prize trip to the luxurious resort that is somewhere in Fiore, and it's just shocking how you told Juvia that it was in Lucy's mailbox! That would explain why she is now with the people from the guild of Sabertooth, possibly even telling Minerva about how Erza reads dirty smut novels and passes gas for hours after eating cake! Minerva now has so much dirt on her rival, and it's because of Lucy being in Sabertooth! Juvia thinks that Natsu did a good job by sending her away, you know. After all, there is no way that she could've won a contest that she didn't even enter." Juvia shouted in a shocked manner while looking totally freaked out, getting the other guild members to look her way while they also seemed stunned in disbelief.

From hearing the words that came out of Juvia's mouth, Erza could only look totally embarrassed at the fact that her rival knew some of her nastiest secrets. The media would truly have a fun day with dirty gossip about the mighty woman that had beautiful scarlet hair, as Minerva would supposedly be telling them all of Erza's lewd quirks, and Lucy would be giving her all of the juicy details. It was the perfect way to get some much needed revenge, especially against the people who were no longer her friends, but the rage of Erza would only come in second place to what would happen next. After all, the letter was the crucial key of this plan.

The ice mage told Lisanna in a calm manner, smiling a bit as he held the letter in his left hand, "You once said that you were missing a prize, Lisanna, but the real truth is that flame-brain never sent in your other entry. It could've been your entry, actually, but I bet that he put Lucy's name on it in hopes that she would win. Natsu wanted her to win for the chance to send Lucy away without even knowing that she was being cheated on, but that's just my guess. He could've even been thinking about her while writing it, since two relationships can make a person have conflicting feelings in your heart. Maybe he even misses Lucy, which would be bad news for you."

Natsu could only look shocked at the fact that Gray had a blue letter in his hands, seeming even more shocked that Lucy won the grand prize to be at the lovely resort, and he was met with Lisanna turning around to face him while she looked like an explanation was needed. Her blue eyes became filled with tension, utterly angry that Natsu had made Lucy win the grand prize, and the fire dragon slayer could only begin to look nervous. Erza also gave him a death glare while feeling angry that her deepest secrets were supposedly in Minerva's hands for the purpose of blackmail now, and this all stemmed back to his seemingly perfect plan of cheating on Lucy with Lisanna.

He tried to defend his mistake by saying that he was not fully awake when he wrote that letter late at night, and Natsu also had no clue that Lucy would win the contest. Natsu could not control fate, even if it seemed like this had all been in his control, but how could he really tell that to Lisanna after their plan to have a happy love had been going so well? That little letter had now made such a big dent in his plans, as Mira even began to glare at Natsu for looking like he intended to give Lucy some fancy fun while only giving casual fun to the mistress that he claimed to love so much. This definitely put Natsu in a bad place, which was pretty fun for Gajeel and Juvia to watch.

Gray even came up with the angle of Natsu sending Lucy away and making her feel so bad, if she truly did see Natsu kissing Lisanna, and then the pink-haired male would go find the resort with his blue-eyed lover. He would be loving Lisanna while also trying to tell Lucy that he was sorry, and maybe Natsu would be having some warm fun with the blonde girl for many nights if it took that long for her to accept his apology. Gray was making Natsu sound really conflicted with how he felt about Lisanna and Lucy, even though he was loyal to Lisanna, and giving the contest win to Lucy had really thrown a monkey wrench in his perfect plan. He didn't even know that any of this would happen, since Natsu was not psychic, but he could guess that his ex was possibly better off than him.

* * *

><p><strong>On the Magnet Train...<strong>

After Lucy had eaten her breakfast, she left her room with Sting to go down to the first floor of the Sabertooth guild. The white dragon slayer led Lucy out of the guild to the town that was directly south of Cerulean, the place where they could reach the Magnet Train, and that town was known as Saffron. It had been famous for places like Silph. Co, the company that made those TMs for mages to learn many moves, and they also made items like Potions and Revives to help mages heal themselves or their allies. Lacrima Crystals were also made in that famous place, but making any for dragon slayers was no longer allowed because of how Team Rocket could be vicious.

There was also a fighting dojo next to a place known as the Saffron Guild, and Lucy was curious about why there had also been a place called Fuchsia Guild in that marshy town for lovers of Poison Magic. Sting let her know that Cerulean Town had Sabertooth as the new Cerulean Guild, since many of the girls from the latter had joined up with him because of how hot and handsome he looked, but Shelly had only joined because she wanted to be in a powerful place. The original Cerulean Guild had people who specialized in Water Magic, and the Saffron Guild was for people who loved Psychic Magic.

Due to those guilds only having one type of magic, even though that was made legal by Magic Council, it was actually illegal for them to compete in the Grand Magic Games. They would have too much of an advantage, especially with how they could also make spells, and Lucy was hearing all of this from Sting while they had boarded the Magnet Train. Its interior had white walls with sapphire blue carpeting, the light blue seats looking really comfy while there were four seats to every brown square table in between them, and Lucy told her confident friend that they could sit across from each other in the window seats that were up against the walls while people in those seats could obviously look out the windows to see some great scenery.

Before they went to take their seats, though, Sting turned around to let Lucy know that this fancy train had a stewardess behind the blue booth. She gave coffees or cups of hot chocolate to all of the passengers on board, since these were infused with Troia for the sake of not having any dragon slayers experience motion sickness after the train would be moving, and Sting got two cups of sugary hot chocolate for himself and Lucy to enjoy. The duo proceeded to sit down in their seats, and Sting would let Lucy know about a few other towns on this side of Fiore. She would have to enter them at some time in her life, you know.

Sting let her know that Vermilion Town was south of Saffron, and it was a port town on this side of Fiore. The guild of Vermilion was a place that specialized in Lightning Magic, which could get pretty shocking at times, but it wasn't really anything compared to Sunyshore Town in the far-off land of Sinnoh. There was also a place known as Lavender Town, which made Lucy think that it was pretty, but Sting chuckled a bit at her naivety while letting the brown-eyed girl know that it was a creepy place for Darkness Magic to thrive. There was no guild in that town, but the evil aura from its tower had made the people in there become quite creepy.

"I'm so glad that you're going to Magnolia with me, Sting. I could never face Natsu alone without having the guild members try to spout lies at me, so they won't be able to defend him if there's a witness around to take note of every single thing that they say. By the way, this train is moving pretty fast. It feels like we're moving at over 340 miles per hour, and this is so cool! I swear, this side of Fiore is totally fancy and fantastic!" Lucy told him in a calm tone while smiling, before she seemed really excited as the train started moving at full speed to live up to its name of being the Magnet Train while it was actually a bullet train.

The user of White Dragon Slayer Magic replied with a cocky smirk on his face, chuckling a bit at how Lucy was still new to this side of Fiore, "Well, this train is a maglev. It runs along an elevated track like a monorail, and it's propelled by a moving magnetic field. This train can go all the way to far locations like Magnolia, but it zips all the way back to Saffron after you get off of it. That's kinda why I'm glad that there's a way to get back to our guild, and let's just say that it will propel you to joy. Anyway, just don't let Natsu and Erza rattle you. They might seem pretty fierce, but I know that you can take them on with your new skills."

His kind words had made Lucy smile softly, glad that he had tons of confidence in her abilities, and she happily leaned across the table to give him a soft kiss on the lips. Not only was that a sweet gift for how he had kissed her lips yesterday, but Lucy wanted Sting to know that she would try her best to win against people who could take down plants with ease. Just because Natsu had fiery flames, that did not mean Lucy's magic would be totally useless. Let's just say that she was still creating two new spells that could really make fire's explosions really be implosive, and they could also break any steel swords that tried slicing down any plants.

Lucy was glad that this train had been moving fast, as she could see that the scenery had looked a bit familiar from her old days in Fairy Tail, and the blonde girl would be happy to walk through Magnolia with a brave look on her face. She had really changed from her old self, no longer being the girl who would fall for any of Natsu's lies, and Lucy would show her ex that he made a big mistake by lying to her. She would not attack him or anyone else, though, unless they were going to start a fight with her. If Lucy could fight Janine with a type of magic that was at a disadvantage, then she could certainly take on fire or lightning.

As she knew that the train would be reaching Magnolia soon, though, Lucy had a clever look in her cocoa brown eyes while she knew that more than two moves were needed for a fight to be won. Upon knowing how Shelly could use Water Warp while Janine had the ability to hide in puddles of toxic goop, Lucy came to realize that a demon slayer did not just need power. Shelly and Janine were very clever with the moves that they made, even when the latter used explosive toxic smog, so Lucy had to make some moves that were just as wild. Even if she had to warp through holes in trees, that would still be a pretty cool way to get to far-off places.

Still, Lucy also had to think about what her first words would be to the people in Fairy Tail. She also had to keep calm from seeing Natsu with Lisanna, since they would expect her to feel angry or sad about being cheated on, and the guild members would possibly try to bring back their little act of ignoring her at first sight. While Lucy was gone from that pathetic guild, those guys must've really been quite chatty and glad about how Natsu's little plan had been successful. Lucy knew that the fairies might even laugh at what she had to say, but she could easily back up all of that big talk with her Plant Demon Slayer Magic. After all, that was her new specialty.

She would simply have to be calm like Shelly, since the black-haired woman could keep cool with her Water Demon Slayer Magic and her Ice Demon Slayer Magic, but the only difference between the two girls was that Shelly could be scarier at times. She could be stern like Erza, but actually back up her attitude with power that had logic to it. For example, Shelly did not need to rely on the power of friendship to get power-ups, and she also did not need to wield an armor that could make her seem like a total god. Besides, based on how Shelly's ice was pretty deadly, it was safe to say that Lucy's new friend could freeze Erza's Nakagami Armor to simply shut her up.

The only person who had not really gotten on her bad side was Gray, since the ice mage had seemed to show a neutral view of Lucy's love with Natsu, and she just couldn't find any real reason to hate him. Gray had not done anything to really make him be seen as a traitor, since he always liked to keep out of any kind of drama that was going on in the guild, and he had really found Natsu to just be a total idiot that could screw up again. That was certainly true, since the fire dragon slayer acted like a reckless punk when he burnt cities to the ground, and all of that damage would have to be repaid by Makarov. Natsu sure was stupid, right?

Before Lucy could even fully plan out what she would say as her opening statement to her former friends in the guild of Fairy Tail, though, the Magnet Train came to a sudden halt. She held on to the seat tightly, even though there had never been reports of anyone being thrown from their seats, and Sting would obviously catch her if she was sent flying through the air. Lucy looked a bit curious while she saw the Magnet Train's door slide open, making her wonder if they had really arrived in the town of Magnolia already, and she looked out the window to see that the train station looked exactly like the one in Magnolia.

This was definitely the town of Magnolia, since the engineer of the train let all of the passengers know that they had now arrived in the town where the famous Fairy Tail guild was located, and Lucy got up out of her chair to walk out of the train. Sting was quick enough to exit the train with her, before seeing it speed off into the distance to possibly take the long way to the town of Saffron, and the two mages were now at their destination. Lucy had a good-enough memory to know that Fairy Tail was near the train station, since they were both in the southern part of Magnolia, and that was where reaching the guild would be a bit tricky.

"I know that we're now in the town of Magnolia, Sting, but the problem is that going from the train station to the Fairy Tail guild isn't exactly a short path. I don't know how we'll get to the guild without being seen by any of its members, and I really don't want to run into Cana or Erza. They would probably go snitch to Natsu and Lisanna about the fact that we're in town, and almost everyone in the guild will be on Natsu's side while watching him give kisses to his stupid mistress." Lucy explained while she looked concerned about what would happen, as she began to have a few thoughts about this whole thing going pretty badly.

Sting replied in a comforting tone, putting his hands on the shoulders of the celestial spirit wizard while he had also looked at her with confidence in his blue eyes, "You're right, Lucy. That could be a big problem, and it's not really a surprise to the guild members if they know that you're coming to Fairy Tail. There is a way to get past the obvious route, though, and you just have to think about what Shelly or Janine would do in this situation. You are a Demon Slayer like them, so the best option to do right now is to be like them in a way that can really help you hide like a vixen or warp like the best thief ever."

Upon hearing what her clever friend had just said, Lucy walked around for a little while to think about what the next move would be. She was able to use the powers of plants, ranging from explosive seeds to vicious roots that could strangle a person to death, but offensive spells were not all that a Demon Slayer needed. Lucy would need some defensive spells, as well as some spells that could provide a great amount of assistance, and they would have to be pretty helpful on jobs. She had to think about being sneaky like Shelly and Janine, though, so couldn't she just make a move that was derived from their moves?

Lucy thought about doing that, since it would be a good idea, and she walked out of the train station with Sting. The duo noticed some bushes while they were about to walk into the large town of Magnolia, and that's when the brown-eyed girl had a clever move of her own. She used her first assist spell, calling it Grassy Gate, and she aimed her left hand towards one of the bushes. A pale green aura surrounded the bush, as Lucy's also went to touch the shrub with her left hand, and the aura rose up above the bush before drilling a hole into the center of it. Lucy was amazed by this, and so was Sting. (If you know about Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and the remakes of the first two games, then you know this is a reference to how Secret Bases can be made.)

The sight of a dark hole being made in the bush had really made Lucy feel confused, as she put her hand inside of it, and the blonde mage was suddenly pulled into the hole by some small vines that came from it. Sting grabbed on to Lucy's left foot, in order to be pulled through the hole with her, and the duo was sent into the green bush while they both looked shocked at how this spell seemed to work like Shelly's Water Warp. The hole in the bush had closed up behind them while they ended up in an overgrown forest, and some brown plant roots from a nearby tree had grabbed the two Sabertooth mages. They were being pulled down into the tree, wondering where the roots would take them, and Lucy looked amazed while she could see a white light below her. She was obviously going to enter it with Sting, but where would the light take them?

Lucy had kept her eyes closed while going through the white light, even though Sting had decided to eat it, and the brown plant roots rose up from the ground to show the duo that they were now in front of the Fairy Tail guild. The roots dropped the two blondes on to the ground, before going back under the surface while the effects of Grassy Gate had made the holes disappear to cover Lucy's tracks, and she ran behind the blueberry bush with Sting because of the fact that the guild's entrance doors were open. She did not want Natsu sniffing her out, nor did she want to be seen by anyone right now. Lucy wanted to really give them quite a surprise, but let's just say that the open doors could help her overhear what was going on while she would also have the chance to quietly climb up the stairs as Sting would wait behind the bush.

* * *

><p><strong>Inside the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Natsu really found himself in quite a big mess, mainly because of his error with the entry form that was meant for Lisanna, and getting punched in the head by Erza did not make the fire dragon slayer feel any better. He had been way too cocky, thinking that his plan to enjoy the romantic affair with his white-haired lover would have no flaws, and the ironic twist in the whole mess was that Natsu gave a lovely vacation to the woman who he no longer loved while he had also thought that there was no chance of any dents being in his plan. He had cheated on Lucy, which was successful, but why would a cheater want to make their former love feel good?

Lisanna still sat down with Natsu, mainly because she could guess that he would be dense enough to make a big error, and the trade was kind of fair for her. Since Lucy won the trip, she was now far from Natsu. This gave Lisanna more time to spend with the pink-haired male, letting her feel his good warmth on the cold nights, and she never wanted him to have interest in any other woman. Even though Lisanna did not get to enjoy gourmet food and spa treatments at the resort, she was still glad that Lucy was away from Natsu. With the blonde girl out of her way, Lisanna could make her affair with Natsu become the main relationship.

The more time that Lucy was away, the more attention that Lisanna would get from most of the other guild members in Fairy Tail. She loved to be liked by almost everyone in the guild, since they would even enjoy hearing her stories about the jobs that she did. The blue-eyed girl also enjoyed the fact that Erza would tell her that she looked cute with Natsu, seeming to be a much better match for him than Lucy could ever be, and Lisanna would also blush happily when she would be kissed by her fiery boyfriend. She had even fed chocolate to Natsu whenever they would be cuddling in the dessert shops, and he would be just as flirty by putting cute little cupcakes in her mouth.

Ever since Lucy had gone out of Natsu's life, him and Lisanna had been getting really romantic. They had even eaten cookies together, went shopping in Magnolia like such a cute couple, and Lisanna even took her boyfriend to the toy shop for the chance to get some plush dolls of the Fairy Tail guild members. Natsu had bought a plush doll of his sweet girlfriend, and vice versa. He had only bought the dolls of Lucy to burn them, since him and Lisanna both laughed at how she was so weak, but they had not seen her in action at all. They had no knowledge of her new skills, not knowing how she had improved, and the thought of Lucy made Lisanna smirk in a devious manner.

She began to ask Natsu about how Lucy was scared of fighting tough enemies, since he had joked around with Lisanna about how Lucy could be a total crybaby, and Lisanna giggled while wanting to know about the biggest tantrum that Lucy had ever thrown. Natsu had simply told her that Lucy was a spoiled girl that threw huge fits when she would not get her way, and how she was so idiotic for never thinking that he was cheating on her. Natsu had let Lisanna know that Lucy would be having fun at the resort while still being a total airhead, and she would come running back into his arms whenever she got bored of being at the resort. Wow, now wasn't he being pretty arrogant?

Natsu did not really know the future, but his loud boasting certainly got the attention of Lucy. She had quietly been walking up the stairs, glad that the blueberry bush had hidden her true scent once again, and she stood right behind one of Fairy Tail's entrance doors. Her fists were clenched tightly, pretty miffed to hear Natsu act like she had not found out that he was cheating on her, but Lucy exhaled a soft breath of air in an attempt to calm herself down. She really wanted to go in there and punch her stupid ex, but that would only ruin the surprise of having everyone see that she had returned. However, Lucy also hated to be insulted and talked about so rudely by people who could never have the guts to say such uncouth trash to her face.

Lisanna told Natsu in a sweet manner, blushing a light shade of pink after giving him a loving kiss on the lips, "It's so good for us to not have Lucy around, since she would just try to get in the way of our love, but we can take care of her when she comes back. After all, she probably got thrown out of Sabertooth for crying so much. You never deserved to be with someone who was just dead weight to your team, Natsu, and that's why I'm glad that you asked me to join Team Natsu after you ousted Lucy. She must be flaunting her bikini while taking pictures on the beach, hoping that you'll love them."

"If Lucy ever comes back to see us, she'll still be weak as ever. I bet that Sting has to save her on every job, and it's all because of the fact that my useless ex can't do anything on her own. She's nothing like you, Lisanna, and you really know how to excite me every day. Lucy was the most boring person that I've ever dated, and she was way too nice for my tastes. At least she's gone now, and that dumb blonde probably doesn't even want to show her face here because she'll cry from seeing us kiss." Natsu replied in a pretty brash manner, laughing like he was heckling her, and the fire dragon slayer ignored the sound of those evenly-paced footsteps entering the guild.

As he continued with his loud laughter, though, Lisanna nearly jumped out of her chair while gasping at the unexpected person standing in the doorway of the Fairy Tail guild. She could not believe that this person came back, and Cana spat out her booze on to the ground when she saw the blonde girl as well. Erza looked utterly shocked to see that Lucy had come back while Mira was also amazed, but Gray and Juvia simply had kind smiles on their faces while they could tell that fate made their plan and Lucy's motive for showing up here be intertwined for a certain purpose. Gajeel figured that Lucy would come back, and he smirked at Natsu in a teasing manner while he could tell that something was about to go down.

Natsu seemed very surprised to see that Lucy had now shown up here, since him and Lisanna had just been talking about how she was useless to him. Lucy looked pretty stern about the rude things that he had said, but her fierce facial expression did not match how calm she felt on the inside. She had resisted the urge to hit her stupid ex, even as he tried to act like she didn't know about the affair, and Natsu had to know that his lies would no longer work. The charade was up, and the fire dragon slayer's acting skills were not exactly worthy of winning an award of any kind. As he looked shocked to see her, though, Natsu sweated a bit while looking at Erza for some advice.

The scarlet-haired woman could only guess that Lucy had found out about everything that went on behind her back before she had departed from Fairy Tail, which would explain the tense look on her face, and she had found out that the people who she saw as friends had really been playing her like a sap. They had kept Natsu's affair from her, just watching her be led on by him, and true friends would never do that to someone who they truly cared about. Lucy could never see those people as allies, even though she did not know that there were good people like Gray. In fact, he had just made a big rift in Natsu's crew because he wanted to defend Lucy.

Erza really didn't have much to chat about with Lucy, since their feud had grown because of the blonde mage supposedly telling Minerva all about her rival's dirty secrets, and it wasn't even true. If that was true, though, then the media would have fun tearing down Erza Scarlet. She was foolish enough to believe Sting's fake newspaper, however, but Lucy still continued to look around the guildhall. She could see that Gray looked like he was about to say something to her, as he got up out of his chair while calmly smiling, but Lucy's main attention was not directed at him. She looked over at the bar to see Cana staring straight at her, still shocked by her presence, and that's where the argument would begin.

Even though her feud was mainly with Natsu, the fact still remained that Lucy's best friend had no business being a major traitor to her. Cana had not even let her know that Natsu was cheating on her, and it was supposedly because people thought that the blonde girl had no control over her emotions. They saw her to be so very sensitive, thinking that she would freak out over the fact that Natsu was in love with another woman, but that was not the case. Lucy could be very calm, even if she had been emotional from hearing that Natsu kicked her off of the team, and the conflict was about to have a little spark for the flame to be ignited.

"Lucy, I don't know why you even came back here. You must've just been crying about the fact that Sabertooth does not have any good friends for you to hang out with, and now you're coming back here with that stern look on your face. You know, we never even had an official breakup before you chose to part ways. Honestly, you're just a traitor for joining up with those guys. We all saw the news about what went down in Celadon Town, and it's pretty obvious that Sting did all the work while you were weak." Her ex told her in a cocky tone while smirking, as he attempted to put his arms around Lucy's waist for her to possibly not feel sad.

She replied in a calm tone, narrowing her cocoa brown eyes at everyone while she swung her left fist backwards to hit Natsu right in the face, "Don't even try to touch me, Natsu. You cheated on me with Lisanna, and you kept telling me lies like I was some kind of idiot! You kept making me feel happy, but that was all just a game to you. Lisanna is the girl that you love, and I'm glad that the trip to the resort sent me far away from here. Not only did you lie to me, but almost everyone lied to me as well. I can never see you guys as friends, mainly Cana and Erza. You two were supposed to be my friends, but you didn't even care to tell me that I was being cheated on."

Seeing her dense boyfriend get hit had made Lisanna look concerned, causing the white-haired mage to partly go into her Tigress Take-Over by making her hands turn into blue claws, and she ran towards Lucy in an attempt to slash at her. The blonde girl turned around quickly, however, and she used the spell known as Plant Demon's Bullet Seeds to hit Natsu's mistress five times with her small projectiles. Lisanna did not think that the seeds were much to worry about, even though she did not know what they were, and she simply watched them bounce off of her stomach to land on a nearby table. The pale green aura surrounded Lisanna's body, making her look curious.

Natsu looked worried about his mistress, not wanting to see her get hurt, and he gave Lucy an angry glare. Natsu was about to use his Fire Dragon's Roar on her, but the blonde mage was fast enough to grab the seeds off of the table to flick one of them at Natsu's stomach. Using them in this manner would also cause the effects of the chain power to activate, which was a good thing, and Lucy also gently threw one at Erza's forehead. One of the seeds was also thrown at Cana's abdomen, and everyone who was hit by the seeds had a pale green aura engulfing them. This was only the first part of her plan, though, but how would the rest of it end up turning out?

Lucy did not clap her hands to cause any large blasts to occur, since that would just be a little too easy, and she wanted to truly move on from Natsu by making him and her former friends see the pain that they had caused. The blonde girl smiled a bit while she was impressed at her Plant Demon Slayer Magic, glad that it was so useful, and she was getting ready to use one of her new spells in this fight. Lucy could also see that Erza had not requipped into any of her armors, nor did she summon any of her swords, so that seemed a bit odd to her. That did not mean the biggest threat was out yet, since Natsu was pretty mad at Lucy, and what happened next was pretty intense.

Not wanting to be shown up by Lucy, Natsu saw her first spell as a stupid little trick. He had to assume that she was using one of her Celestial Spirits, even if it was a new one that could make itself invisible, but that was certainly not the case. The fire dragon slayer had no idea that his blonde ex had indirectly learned Plant Demon Slayer Magic from a criminal named Michelle, but he was going to show her that a dragon slayer could be pretty dangerous. Natsu proceeded to use Fire Dragon's Sword Horn for the chance of striking Lucy from up close for her spells to not strike him, and Natsu engulfed his entire body in flames before he propelled himself towards Lucy at high speeds. This move could really hurt someone, and Natsu snickered confidently from seeing Lucy remain perfectly still.

Gray yelled at Lucy to get out of the way of Natsu's attack, thinking she would getting badly burnt, and the blonde mage tried to dodge at the last second. However, Natsu angrily grabbed her hair with his right hand before smashing into a wall with her! An explosion of fire occurred, the smoke clearing up fast, and people could hear Lucy screaming while her ex-boyfriend made flames engulf his fists to angrily punch her in the stomach seven times. He had made Lucy begin to burn while she was in pain, and Lucy could feel the intense heat on her skin. This was certainly a bad situation, was it not?

Natsu proceeded to pull Lucy up by her beautiful blonde hair, and he threw her behind the bar area. The fire dragon slayer angrily glared at her while he ran over there, but what he did next was beyond cruel. Natsu picked up a large keg that was filled with alcohol, and he laughed in a heckling manner while dumping it all on Lucy. She was now covered from head to toe in brown alcohol, and Lucy screamed in fear when Natsu used Fire Dragon's Roar to let his flames mix with the alcohol in an effort to create a large explosion that would defeat Lucy for good. The large burst of flames transpired, blinding everyone's eyes while Mira and Cana quickly got away from the bar, and Lucy was feeling the most pain while she was inside of the fire.

The blonde mage was perspiring heavily while she was in the center of the bursting flames, and her skin was now charred while she could not stand the intense heat. Lucy was really angry at Natsu for being so rude to her, as she could hear him laughing with Lisanna while they had boasted about Sabertooth making Lucy become much more idiotic than she was before, and Lucy was panting heavily while these flames were hot like her anger. At that moment, she had to think about what Shelly would do in the situation. Using water would be a good idea, but Lucy didn't have any Water Demon Slayer Magic. Lucy also remembered how Sting had been waiting for her, cheering her on with whatever she did, and he had even given her a kiss on the lips as a way of thanking her for giving him such a sweet kiss on their first date. Not wanting to lose in this battle against her ex, as well as wanting to show Sting that there was no need to worry, Lucy took a deep breath while closing her eyes to think.

Everyone had looked shocked to see the copious amount of large flames that Natsu had created by the bar, thinking that all of the fire would kill Lucy while they could see her silhouette laying on the ground while she could be heard screaming in pain for a few seconds, but Natsu's flames began to divert right out the front door. The fire dragon slayer looked puzzled by what just happened, as did everyone else, and even Sting looked surprised to see the flames going out of Fairy Tail while he hid behind the blueberry bush. The white dragon slayer could see them going into the mouth of someone who hid behind a nearby tree, but what in the world were they doing here and who was this person? Could they be another dragon slayer, or what?

The smoke slowly faded away to reveal that Lucy was still laying on the cold wooden floor, her skin now brown while it had been charred from the fire, and her pink pajamas had been eaten away by Natsu's flames. She tried to stand up, struggling to keep her balance because of all the damage that her body had taken, and Lucy was panting while she had now created her eighth spell. It was known as Plant Demon's Healing Leaves, and this move simply caused Lucy to shoot eight green leaves from her hands. This move was similar to the one that Michelle had used, and that sadistic criminal ironically gave the blonde girl some great inspiration.

They floated around Lucy's body for a few moments, before glowing forest green while they had the sweet scent of mint leaves, and this aroma had allowed the blonde girl to regain all of her magical power. This side effect of this spell would enhance her strength, though, so Lucy could release it all in one shot. However, she decided to make a ninth spell known as Plant Demon's Grass Snake. This spell allowed Lucy to hold a pale green aura in her left hand, and she threw that aura straight at Natsu. It took the form of a large green snake that opened its mouth to bare some large fangs, but the snake would not eat something that was so vile.

It simply passed right through Natsu while chomping on half of his magical power, before vanishing into thin air, and the fire dragon slayer fell to his knees. He felt somewhat drained, the flames on his fists shrinking down by half of their initial size, and the power of his attacks was also cut in half. That snake had really dealt a blow to the devious liar, and now Natsu knew what it felt like to have a snake in the grass mess with him. He had been a total snake to Lucy, since he would not even let her know about his little affair, and this fight was certainly coming to an end.

"What in the world is going on?! Lucy, what the hell is that magic you're using? I don't see how you've been beating down my fire with grass, and I also want to know who got rid of my flames! I swear, as soon as you came into the guild, my whole day was ruined! What kind of moves have you been using, and aren't you going to at least let me know what your new magic is? When you do things, Lucy, aren't you going to tell me about them?" Natsu asked her with a protesting look on his face, finding this match to really be unfair while the last question that he asked had made him look like a total hypocrite.

The blonde mage replied with a confident look on her face while aiming her left hand at Natsu, ready to finish this fight with her last new spell, "It's always fair to use new magic, especially since you still don't know that I'm a Plant Demon Slayer now, Natsu! Besides, you shouldn't act like I have to tell you stuff because and almost everyone in this guild hid your affair with Lisanna from me! You played me for a fool, kept me in the dark about how much you really loved Lisanna, and I want to move on from you! There's someone in my life who is better than you, and he ignites my feelings to where my attraction was hot like the kiss I gave him!"

Refusing to lose against all of Lucy's fierce confidence, Natsu was about to resort to using Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade to end this fight. However, he was suddenly met with his ex firing a large green beam of energy from her left hand. This spell was named Plant Demon's Solar Beam by Lucy, and the name had really fit the description. It was about to strike Natsu directly, even though such a large spell had not moved as fast as the smaller ones, but Lisanna intercepted the attack. She stood in front of Natsu while smiling happily, telling him that Lucy's attacks were all weak, but neither of them knew how Lucy had changed.

Cana and Erza had also tried to shield Natsu, the brown-haired woman trying to see which card would be useful in this situation, but it was too late for any of them to try any last-minute moves. The pale green aura was still surrounding their bodies, which Lisanna still noticed while she gasped at the sight of it, and Lucy's attack would gain power when it hit any object that was glowing from the effects of the seeds. It looks like the weakest attack had become the primary force of offense, and but Lucy wanted to see what would happen when two spells were used at the same time.

She softly clapped her hands to make the aura around her enemies explode, resulting in four large pale green blasts of Plant Demon Slayer Magic occurring, and the power of the blasts had actually been fused with the Plant Demon's Solar Beam attack when they made contact. The last spell was ultimately diverging in four smaller beams, giving more power to each blast for it to also have more focus on a single point, and who would've ever thought that the last spell would work in conjunction with the first spell? Sting had now entered the guild while everyone was distracted, since he could tell that the battle was now over.

The pale green smoke had cleared up quickly to reveal that Natsu's female allies were all unconscious, even though the fire dragon slayer had enough durability to withstand the attack while he still looked badly bruised, and Gray gave Lucy a kind smile while letting her know that she had won this fight by a wide margin. Natsu was panting heavily, nearly exhausted, and he turned around in a state of shock because he had now picked up on Sting's scent. The white dragon slayer had obviously come here with his companion, but he let her do the fighting because this was her business to handle. Lucy did not enjoy fighting him like that, since she had not wanted to get into drama today for a simple matter to be completed, and she could see that everyone had looks that ranged from being glad to being really surprised by what she had done.

Even if people would praise her for being so powerful, however, that did not excuse them from hiding Natsu's affair from the blonde girl. Lucy was still upset with them for doing such a thing because they thought that she was really sensitive, and Lucy may have cried about it when she was deeply in love with Natsu. However, Lucy had no more attraction to the fire dragon slayer. She felt no love towards a guy who had cheated on her in such an arrogant way, acting like he had no chance of ever getting caught, and the fact that he led her on for almost twelve months was enough for her to make a statement to the guild.

"I know that you all think I'm so fragile to the point where you can't say a thing to me, but I really thought that you all were my friends. Really, you guys followed Natsu's plan to the point where it felt like you betrayed me. I'm really hurt by how every day was full of random gossip to cover up the fact that Natsu was cheating on me, and that's why I'm leaving Fairy Tail. It's very unethical of Natsu to cheat on me, but it's also wrong for all of you to not tell me anything and lie to me. If you guys really call yourselves a guild, look out for your comrades and don't leave the doors wide open for people hiding in the blueberry bushes to hear everything." Lucy told everyone with a stern look on her face, before walking to the Fairy Tail guild's doorway while she was happy to see Sting.

Gray retorted in a calm manner with a smile on his face while he gave Lucy her mail, letting the brown-eyed girl know that not everyone felt so good about what Natsu did, "I just want you to know that the letter to the resort was in your mailbox, and I really felt disgusted by how Natsu had kicked you off of the team. When I found out that you went to the resort, I thought that Natsu hoped that you'd win because he wanted to be rid of you. That's why Juvia, Gajeel, and myself are going to dismantle his little alliance. You're our friend, Lucy, and I'm sorry for not being around when Natsu announced his plan. If me or Juvia had been there, we would've told you about it."

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><p>While the members of the Fairy Tail guild had been looking unhappy to see Lucy leave, some of them near tears like how Levy was, the blonde girl blushed happily at Sting for being around to watch her wipe the floor with Natsu. She was glad that the blue-eyed male had let her handle this, since moving on from her dark past was a crucial step towards a bright future, and Lucy rested comfortably in his arms while she felt exhausted from using up so much magic. She did not know that Plant Demon's Solar Beam would take up so much power, and Lucy sighed happily as she let Sting know that they could take a hot bath together.<p>

He rubbed her pink cheeks with his hands, even though her skin was hot and charred brown from Natsu's flames, and Sting was glad that Lucy was so strong. She was not weak like how Natsu had perceived her to be, making him wonder how that guy could be so stupid to throw her away, and Sting gave Natsu a harsh glare because of the fact that he overheard all of the unkind things that the pink-haired male had told Lucy, and he really needed to learn how to treat women. Trying to burn her alive was also really uncalled for, especially since Natsu could've killed her, and Sting was glad that a pest like Natsu was not allowed to be at the resort.

Lucy looked down at her attire, only to blush from the fact that she was in her white lacy bra and white lacy panties because of the fact that her stupid ex's flames had burnt off her pajamas, and she could feel her heart beating with warmth while looking into Sting's charming blue eyes. Lucy could guess that he'd tell Shelly to buy her some new clothes, since a day of shopping would be a good way to not really think about a day of stress, and the Celestial Spirit Wizard had to show some thanks to her friend. Since Natsu had been so secretive to Lucy, that was the perfect reason for her to be open with Sting because he was a genuine guy that she could trust.

Lucy gave a romantic kiss on the lips to the white dragon slayer, really loving how he was always there for her, and Sting put his arms around her waist while he returned the kiss to her. The duo was very happy that this job was now complete, even though they still did not really get actual money from it, but this was only the second time that occurred. The third time was definitely the charm, and this was the third kiss on the lips that Lucy shared with Sting. As she broke the kiss and smiled happily at the confident male, it was pretty obvious that Lucy wanted to be his girlfriend. Sting wanted to be Lucy's boyfriend, always wanting to protect a sweet girl like her, and their romance was now official.

Sting carried Lucy in a bridal-style manner while he walked down the stairs with her, glad that they were now heading back to the guild of Sabertooth, and they would certainly have fun in the hot tub while Shelly would also check out Lucy's burns to help her heal from their effects with Rawst Berries or a spray-type medicine known as Full Restore. The members of Team Sabertooth would certainly start to bond more, as time went on, and Lucy's chemistry with Sting would continue to grow larger. She was obviously going to warp herself and her boyfriend back to the resort with the Grassy Gate spell, and they would be feeling so much delight.

However, one person was not feeling so happy. Natsu had been angry at Lucy for attacking Lisanna, even though his stupid mistress started the fight, but there was a slight sense of pain in his chest. Natsu looked a bit frustrated while he did not know what was going on, thinking that it was only exhaustion, but Gray smirked a bit from seeing that Natsu was getting his karma. He had loved Lisanna now, which was true, but the piece of his heart that had formerly loved Lucy had shattered a bit. He would not see it now, but the fire dragon slayer would see a few things implode while his rival would be dismantling his crew for some good purposes.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, behind a tree...<strong>

As the drama between Lucy and Natsu, it had still been unclear about where Natsu's flames had gone to. While they had been causing destruction to the bar, the fire was suddenly sent out of the guild like it had been disobeying the dense male. Lucy was a Plant Demon Slayer, not even close to being capable of wielding fire, so she had not done anything to make her ex's flames stop causing pain to her. The fire had clearly been manipulated by an outside force, another person that had great control over flames of such intense anger, but who in the world had decided to put their hand into a fight that had nothing to do with them?

The person that Sting had seen behind the tree was a girl named Lavana Kasai, who was thought to be the same person who had dealt intense fiery damage to the armors and swords that Erza wielded, and let's just say that her name could send anyone running for the hills. She had just finished slurping up all of the flames from earlier, really enjoying how they tasted really hot with such a high amount of power in them, and Lavana stayed in the shadow of the tree while a small smirk was on her face. She could not believe what she had seen and heard, but the rumors actually had some truth to them.

Lavana had wavy red hair that reached down to her waist while she also had a bang of hair in the front that was flattened against her right eye, and she also wore a red blouse. It was pretty short and sleeveless, making her look pretty sexy while the blouse also exposed her stomach, and she wore a dark red miniskirt that matched her blood red flat shoes. Her red hair also had black highlights at the roots and end, making her look pretty cool, and her eyes were scarlet red. Even though Lavana looked like she was dressed to cause death, she also did have a type of magic that sounded while pretty sweet while being just as dangerous as her fire.

She had used her Fire Demon Slayer Magic to propel herself all the way to Magnolia, mainly because of how she had sensed strong vibrations from the power of a demon or a demon slayer, and Lavana had come all the way from the Magma Cavern in Cinnabar Town to check out this person. She had not expected them to be Lucy, even though she did not know about the blonde girl prior to the rumors of someone teaming up with Shelly while also hearing that Lucy took on Janine, but Lavana really saw her as nothing special. Lucy was not advanced with her magic like how Shelly had been, and Shelly also had two types of anti-demon magic while Lucy only had one.

Still, the presence of a Plant Demon Slayer had made things more interesting. The demon with that magic was said to be sealed away in a book that would make its owner burn along with it, only if it was damaged in any way, so Lavana could say that Lucy was technically taught by a demon if she had made contact with the magic from the person who had wielded it before they perished. However, that girl still had quite a ways to go. She was still far behind Shelly and Lavana, since they were both elite demon slayers, but Lucy would eventually reach their level. On top of that, though, the fact that one demon slayer sensed tremendous power from Lucy would mean that some others had sensed it as well.

_"Well, it looks like us demon slayers have a newbie in our ranks now. Her level of power tells me that she's only got ten basic spells, which is just chump-level at best, and she is in the same guild as Shelly. I really still can't fathom how Janine lost to a total novice, unless that girl made a few moves that are meant for a creative trickster. If she is smart like the rest of us, maybe I'll respect her. Of course, just like when she fought Janine, Lucy will see that demon slayers like us are the most evil of our kind. In the meantime, I'll just take note that this is the guild belonging to the idiots who tried to take my treasure." _Lavana thought to herself with an evil grin on her face, before vanishing in a red flame that she had created.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 10? I am so sorry for not updating sooner, and it's because another semester of college has begun. I will try to update when I can, my loyal readers. I give a shout out to all my reviewers, viewers, and messengers, since this story could not have gotten this far without all of you, and it shall keep getting better. The StiCy will continue, but let's be clear on the last little plot of the chapter. Lavana will have no immediate plot, but she will be mentioned by a few people in the next few chapters. Sorry for not having Sting fight Natsu, but they will fight later. Standby for the update!<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Surprises, Schemes, and Grudges? Oh, my!<strong>

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><p>The next morning had arrived with the sun letting its rays of light pass through the windows of Lucy's bedroom at the resort, and she had gotten out of bed with ease while taking the pink comforter off of her body. She had bathed in a hot spring with Shelly last night, since it was not the day for mixed bathing, and seeing Lucy's charred skin had made her friend become worried about her. The black-haired woman wanted to know about what happened at Fairy Tail, even if it had been a successful task, and she had also used one of her spells to help Lucy feel much better in the water. After all, burnt skin could never really make a person feel good.<p>

Shelly had used a move known as Water Demon's Spa to make the water bubbly while it went from being sapphire blue to being light blue. Lucy sighed happily while she had let herself sink down to the bottom of the hot spring, as she felt the water get really warm, and it gave gentle kisses to her skin. Shelly's spell had made the water heal Lucy's body, ridding her of the burns that she had on her body, and this move also made Lucy's charred skin become fair again. She relaxed in the hot spring while her ally had brought her up to its surface, glad that the pain from Natsu's flames was now gone, and water was definitely the best thing to help someone be relieved from fire.

Even though the blonde girl had been really happy about the fact that she beat down Natsu and some other people who had betrayed her, Shelly narrowed her aqua blue eyes while she told Lucy that it would be wise to not go back into Magnolia for a while. Her injuries could've made her life be at risk, if too much time had passed, and there was also the matter of the Celestial Spirit Wizard being really lucky that Erza had not been able to summon up any swords to stab her. If Lucy had been stabbed or slashed, then the fight would've been much more dangerous. Lucy had been warned to not leave this side of Fiore as well, since the other side did not really find demon slayers to be so common.

Lucy also had to know that there were other demon slayers in the world, some that were much stronger than Janine, and they all had the ability to sense vibrations of magical power from other demon slayers. They did not have to be close by for that to work, since strong offensive spells would send out the most energy waves, but that made Lucy wonder why no one had been trying to hunt her down. Shelly had calmly let her know that it was because of the fact that she was not exactly the best demon slayer, but only someone who was a bully would have any real interest in picking on her. That made Lucy look shocked in a comical way, but she was not bent on making enemies.

Shifting from the previous day, though, Lucy was glad to now be the girlfriend of Sting. She was also glad to have let Natsu know that they were no longer a couple, since he had been slick enough to cheat on her, and moving on from him was the best thing for her to do. Now that he was out of her love life, Lucy could spend less time thinking about him while she could also spend more time going on dates with Sting. Besides, staying in the fabulous resort was also making the blonde girl feel really happy. She had even gotten to eat chocolate cake for her dessert after dinner last night, and that sweet cake was topped with many sugary vanilla truffles.

Lucy's dinner had simply been a plate of nachos covered in tons of cheese while she also had ten hot dogs on that plate as well, and she had found herself liking how she was eating more. This was the typical diet of a dragon slayer or a demon slayer, and Lucy had not really put on much weight. She had been sure to not get fat for Sting, even though he had once poked her stomach because that was where she had been ticklish, and Lucy wanted to stay healthy while she also planned to work out in the resort's gym. After all, it was important for her to keep getting stronger. That would help her Celestial Spirits become stronger, too.

As she also liked the fact that Shelly had also helped her pick out some new pink pajamas, Lucy realized that she had not been using her spirits as much as when she was in the guild of Fairy Tail. She had known that they were on the wide purple dresser in her room, since that is where she had kept her ten golden keys, but Lucy had not been using her Celestial Spirits very often because of the fact that their skills never really coincided with certain enemies like Janine. After all, she really doubted that Loke loved her enough to inhale poison that could kill almost anyone. For the time being, it looked like the Celestial Spirit Wizard made more of a transition to being a Plant Demon Slayer.

Today was the day where Lucy and her friends would hopefully get some actual jewels from this next job, instead of having Shelly sell all those gems from the Waterfall Cave to make a huge profit, but what would they be doing? After all, no one really knew what fate had in store for them. She hoped that it would be a pretty fun task, even if it would turn out to be a mission that was truly weird, and Lucy smiled a bit at how she loved to seek thrills. Being in the guild of Sabertooth had really helped her have more of a likeness for jobs that involved dealing with tough obstacles to get over, and a soft knock on her door would make this morning be even better.

Lucy smiled softly while she walked over to her door, ready to greet Sting with a lovely kiss on this fine morning, and she softly puckered her lips together as she closed her eyes. Lucy gently opened the door while leaning forward to receive her kiss, her cheeks blushing a light shade of pink, only to comically fall over when she opened her eyes to see that the person at her door had been none other than Shelly. Lucy was not planning on kissing her, since that would just be weird for their friendship, and the blonde girl slowly got up while blushing at how loving Sting and having sweet dreams about him being shirtless had made her be a bit clumsy.

The woman with aqua blue eyes had told Lucy in a joking tone while she giggled a bit, "I'm going to guess that you're trying to practice flirting with Sting by falling over as you lean in for that sweet kiss, and that's just really kind of weird. If you want to impress the guy, just buy him a lot of food and feel good around him. After all, Sting really loves it when people flatter him or give him some of his favorite meals. It's always best to make moves that play to your advantage in a relationship, you know. That's how love can be like chess, Lucy."

Getting up off the ground and wiping some dust off of her pink pajamas, Lucy replied with a cute smile that looked even better with the pink blush on her face, "Well, I was actually thinking that he would be the one to knock on my door. We both thought that the third time would be the charm, since we've been wanting to be on a job that would have tons of thrills. No offense to your treasure hunt from a few days ago, Shelly, but Sting and I have been hoping that there would be a job available while it also involved taking down a monster of something. That just sounds exciting to us."

Shelly could only smirk at how Sting's desire for a few thrills had been rubbing off on his sweet girlfriend in a way that was just adorable, seeing the excited look in her cocoa brown eyes, and let's just say that fate was on Lucy's side today. She was informed that Sting was waiting down on the third floor for her, having some sweet waffles for breakfast while he had also picked out a job for the team to do, and this job would truly be excited. Shelly did not tell Lucy about what they would be doing, since she wanted it to be a surprise, and the blonde girl had quickly ran back into her room to get dressed into better attire for the mission. After all, she did not want a second pair of pajamas to be ruined.

While Lucy would also be sure to take her ten golden Zodiac Gate Keys with her, she also had to pick out a good outfit for the job. This would not take long at all, based on her great sense of style, and Shelly would certainly be glad to be going on this job with Lucy. Let's just say that it would really give her a big advantage in battles, even if it did not seem like much, and she might like to become much stronger. Just because she was far behind Shelly and Lavana, that did not mean Lucy would never catch up with them. Her skills were getting better every day, little by little, and maybe she would really make plants seem like a major threat.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Mirajane had just finished changing Natsu's bandages while he was in the guild's infirmary, having bandages to cover up the bruises on his face, arms, chest, and legs, and Mira had also let Erza check up on the fire dragon slayer. Gray had come along as well, not to check on his condition, but the scarlet-haired mage was really disappointed in Natsu for starting a fight with Lucy and saying such horrible things that he probably couldn't take back at this point. Gray also hated the fact that he had to see his best friend leave the guild because of the tension, too, but it was good that Lucy would no longer have to deal with so much stress.

Gray had also been displeased with Natsu for causing that stupid drama with Lucy, knowing full well that she had already been saddened by him cheating on her for supposedly being inferior to Lisanna, and the ice mage could not believe that the fire dragon slayer just did not know when to keep his mouth shut. If he had not been so rude to Lucy, she would probably still be in Fairy Tail. She didn't even enjoy his presence, not wanting to see that dense idiot again, and Gray really wanted to freeze Natsu solid to really put his attitude on ice. After all, his love for Lisanna had made him become a pretty sneaky rat.

While the black-haired male had glared at Natsu for what happened yesterday, he also turned his glare towards Erza for not even being a real friend to Lucy. Gray had not really cared much for Natsu's affair with Lisanna in the beginning, thinking that his dense rival would one day spill the truth to his former blonde lover, but Natsu had been very lucky to slide by with his slick lies. He had even told the guild to keep quiet about the affair, but they did not have to follow his command. Erza could've said something to Lucy, but many people knew how sensitive she could be.

Even if she would get emotional from having to hear the full truth about how her boyfriend had been nothing more than a cheater, would that not be better than leading her on with fake love? Gray had always known Lucy to be a nice person, really kind and sweet, but the ice mage also knew that he was also at fault for not thinking more of Natsu's romantic affair with his mistress. He had really overlooked the possibility of Natsu spending enough time with Lisanna to know that losing her would leave him with something that he didn't value, but at least karma made that jerk lose to Lucy.

The guild hadn't exactly been in full attendance when the fight had transpired, so people like Wendy would have no idea that Lucy had come to the guild of Fairy Tail to sever the ties that she had with Natsu and her other former friends. Erza had not been happy about the fact that the explosions from Lucy's plant-based attacks had burnt away the white kimono that Mira had given her, even the white-haired woman had slight thoughts about Erza deserving the pain, and the scarlet-haired woman wore a pink kimono to cover her body. Erza had also gotten this from Mira, even though it was only for the latter's amusement.

"I still can't believe that a crybaby like Lucy managed to put me in this condition! If it was Laxus or Erza, I'd have no problem with it! I can take them on anytime, but I want to crush Lucy for somehow taking out my flames with magic from plants! I should've been able to burn away all of her spells, and who was the wise guy that had stolen my flames during that fight?! Burning her after pouring alcohol on Lucy should've meant that I won, but how did she turn the battle around on me?!" Natsu exclaimed angrily while flames began to surround his body while he breathed heavily, only to see the flames burn out quickly before he felt intense pain once again.

Gray sighed in an annoyed manner, narrowing his dark blue eyes at the fire dragon slayer, and he almost felt like making a hammer out of ice to hit Natsu on the head with it. After what he did to Lucy, was he seriously still thinking about himself and being a total idiot? He had been so physically and verbally abusive to Lucy, trying to burn her while calling her a traitor for joining up with Sabertooth, so now he was acting like there was no blame to be put on him? On top of that, he had been talking bad about her with Lisanna for some laughs. Kicking his ex off of the team was one thing, but did every conflict not have boundaries?

The ice mage responded coldly, folding his arms while looking down at Natsu as he stood across from his bed with a stern glare on his face, "You really have to be kidding me, flame brain. Even after taking all that damage and being hurt by Lucy's new magic, you still don't get it? She probably came to Fairy Tail for the purpose of simply telling you that the affair with Lisanna was not such a big secret to her anymore, but you made the mistake of talking about her in a horrible way while she could hear every word as she entered the guild! You and Lisanna caused the drama to get physical, and Lucy simply put you both in your place!"

Natsu looked angered by his rival taking Lucy's side on this, defending her like she could actually be better than Lisanna in some ways, and Natsu refused to accept the loss that he had experienced. He just could not believe that Lucy's weakest attack had a delayed reaction, and that had transpired after she left the guild. Natsu had only been hit by one seed, but his mistress had been hit by five of them. Four more pale green blasts had occurred around Lisanna, ironically taking place when Lucy clapped her hands at the sight of seeing a lovely gourmet meal on the table where she sat with Sting for dinner last night, and Gray could guess that karma was really miffed at a cheater like Natsu.

"Gray, you were not even in the guild when Lisanna and I told almost everyone about our affair. You're acting like you knew how Lucy would react, and I also hate the way that you used that letter to the resort as a way to make Lisanna think that I cared for Lucy! You made me look like I didn't care about pampering my sweet girlfriend while leaving a crybaby like Lucy in the dust, but how the hell was I supposed to know that she'd win the grand prize? That was the moment where it all went out of my control, but you acted like good luck for Lucy was my intention!" Natsu shouted back at the ice mage, refusing to accept any of his words, and he was just way too dense to replay his memories to see that he was responsible for Lucy finding out about his affair because he had a big mouth as well as leaving the doors wide open.

That day was something that Erza had been thinking about while she had stayed silent, and the scarlet-haired mage had actually heard the sound of someone jumping into a bush to make it rustle. The blueberry bush was the closest one to the guild's staircase, and Erza came to the possible theory that Lucy must've seen Natsu and Lisanna walking towards the guild while she had gone home to get her keys. After all, wouldn't every girl observe the strange scene of her boyfriend laughing and smiling while his arm was around another woman? This was ironically the correct theory, but Erza had only guessed it because she hid in the bushes when she saw Jellal walking into Fairy Tail with Ultear once. They weren't cheerful, but Erza had been miffed to see Ultear giggle when one of Jellal's hands rubbed her rear.

Erza responded to Natsu's words in a stern tone, feeling angry at both sides of this argument for how it all intertwined into chaos yesterday, "Listen, you stupid idiot! You should've been smart enough to talk with Lisanna in a private place, and that would've kept Lucy oblivious to your plan. In fact, she might've even given the resort trip to you without thinking that you and Lisanna would blindside her. Gray, you should not try to dismantle friendships. I think that Natsu and Lisanna are a cute couple, but you defend Lucy because she's so nice. You act like telling her the truth and having her throw a tantrum would be fun."

Gray was very upset with Natsu for still thinking of only himself, not even trying to see this whole thing from a different perspective that was wider than his own, and the ice mage left the room in silence while leaving a few heavy footsteps behind. Natsu scoffed at Gray for yelling at him like he was the main bad guy here, which he certainly was, and his love towards Lisanna was only supported by some of the people who thought they were a cute couple. It was clear to understand why Gray supported Lucy, though, and Mira had a disappointed look on her face while she could see that Fairy Tail would cause its own disbandment.

Even though the blue-eyed woman had loved the fact that her sister was in a relationship with the fire dragon slayer, she did not expect Fairy Tail to implode because of the secret that they helped him keep secret for nearly twelve months. Lisanna's year-long anniversary with Natsu was going to be coming up soon, the day where the happy couple would have a wonderful romance together, but it seemed like nobody would really care now. They had all witnessed Natsu start the fight with Lucy, and she had even openly scolded them for not telling her a thing. If Natsu's secret made himself look bad, the resonating words of Lucy made everyone else look really bad as well. Reps were important to uphold, and most people did not want bad gossip to be spread about them.

Mira wondered about how to fix this, since she did not like to see that the Fairy Tail guild members were fighting each other, and she had to admit that Lucy's final move in Fairy Tail was incredibly impacting. She had wanted Natsu to know that they were no longer a couple, as well as telling the guild members that she would no longer associate herself with them, and Mira looked at Erza with a soft smile on her face. If it was possible to make Erza flip to her way of thinking, since that was a good idea, then things might get better. However, doing that would not really be the easiest task in the world.

She had blushed a bit from seeing the tough woman in her pink kimono, still looking injured from Lucy's powerful attack, and Erza's body had felt lots of pain from that blast. Erza always had so much trouble getting around, since she had been getting injured a lot while her armors and swords were all having to go under immense repair, so the scarlet-haired mage was nearly useless right now. She could land a strong punch or a strong kick on anyone, but Mira knew that making Erza flip to her side was crucial to her plans. They would not be able to talk privately, since Natsu was in the room, but a cold shower always felt good to Mira while she also saw it as a good tactic for negotiations. As she was planning this, however, what else had been going on?

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><p><strong>Elsewhere...<strong>

Wendy and Carla had been on their way to the Fairy Tail guild, but they had decided to check up on Lucy before anything else was to be done. The duo had received a large basket of chocolate cookies as a reward from some of the grunts who were glad that Wendy did the job of delivering food to the guild of Team Rocket where Shelly had resided, and Wendy thought that it would be nice to share these cookies with Lucy. She hadn't seen the blonde mage in quite a while, and they also hadn't been talking much. That certainly wasn't good for making any kind of friendship grow like a lovely flower, right?

She had stopped by Lucy's apartment to give her the sweets that would probably cheer her up, and Wendy smiled a bit as she softly knocked on the door. At first, there was no response. Could Lucy be busy showering or something? It wasn't like her to not give any kind of loud response to let someone know that she was in the apartment, and Wendy knew that Lucy would definitely love to have her over for anything. The blonde mage was always friendly to her, being like the nicest sister ever, and the girls would always help each other out. Wendy could tell Lucy anything, and it's too bad that she hadn't been in the guild when Natsu first brought up his affair with Lisanna.

The young sky dragon slayer still heard no response, and she knocked on the door once again. Where in the world could Lucy be? Wendy was beginning to look a bit worried, and Carla also looked concerned. They knew that Lucy would at least leave a note or a sign that she was out somewhere, and then the girls heard the sounds of a certain blue Exceed eating something from within the apartment. The window had also been opened up, prompting Wendy and Carla to go inside. It was fitting to find a window of opportunity, right? (It's a somewhat obvious pun, I know.)

They went inside to find that the lights were on, clearly having been turned on by someone, and Happy sat on the couch while he ate a chocolate and cherry-layered cream cake that Lucy had left behind in the fridge. He was joyfully eating the dessert, either trying to cheer himself up or not have a care in the world, and Happy's noisy eating had made Wendy and Carla look over the couch to see him enjoying the Black Forest gateau. They were both a bit shocked to see that he had gone through Lucy's fridge while she wasn't home, but it wasn't even her home anymore. (That's the name of the delicious cake, if you did not know that.)

Wendy had been looking around for Lucy, the young sky dragon slayer's brown eyes trying to find some sign of the Celestial Spirit Wizard being around here, but even her nose had failed to pick up on Lucy's scent in what used to be her apartment. It was almost like the scent of the blonde mage was now far away, which it was, and Wendy really had to wonder about where Lucy could have gone. She knew that Natsu and Happy usually came into her apartment when she was here, but it seemed like she wasn't home. If she wasn't here, then why in the world was Happy here?

"Breaking into Lucy's house when she is away just tells me that you really lack manners, Happy!" Carla told him in a scolding manner, having a reproving look on her face while she flew on to Wendy's head.

The blue Exceed became a bit startled, flying up into the air to see Carla and Wendy, and he quickly tried to come up with an excuse for eating the cake from Lucy's fridge. At that moment, he also remembered that it wasn't Lucy's fridge anymore. This wasn't even her residence anymore, since she had left a note for Natsu to know that she had found out about his affair with Lisanna, and he looked a bit disappointed to be in front of Wendy and Carla right now. How could he break this news to them, knowing that Lucy was no longer in this town? After all, the two females had been gone for quite a while.

After all, they hadn't heard about what happened yesterday between Lucy and Natsu. Happy knew that the Fairy Tail guild now had enough tension and sadness, and he didn't want to bring more to his friends. He couldn't tell them that he had tried to stay neutral in the drama, since that would still be no better than not helping Lucy in any way, and he also could not tell them that she left the guild because of Natsu treating her so horribly. Nobody else needed to deal with all the stress, and the story would really be better if it was heard from Lucy's point of view. She experienced the whole story, after all.

Happy thought that the secret was perfectly safe between them, but he just had to tempt fate. He had gone into Lucy's apartment with the intent on getting some food, but he hadn't exactly checked out his other surroundings. Lucy had left a note on her desk, addressing it to Wendy, and the little azure-haired girl took notice of what the blue Exceed was looking at. This note probably contained some great information for Wendy, having been written earlier than the time that it was meant for, and she wondered what Lucy wanted to tell her. It was probably nicer than the note left for Natsu, though.

After walking over to the desk with curiosity in her brown eyes, Wendy picked up the note and read aloud in a calm tone, "Dear Wendy, this is your friend Lucy. By the time you have found this note, I will have left for a new town to begin my new life. I want to be free from the drama that Natsu is causing me, and a fresh start will help me do that. We must part ways for now, but I hope to see you again at the Grand Magic Games or any event that makes our paths cross. Be good, ok? I may end up joining the guild of Sabertooth, and maybe you'll find my scent on the wind. Stay sweet and kind, Wendy. Your friend forever, Lucy."

At that moment, Wendy widened her eyes in shock at the revelations in Lucy's letter. Not only had she left Fairy Tail, but Lucy had also left the town of Magnolia. She was now in Cerulean Town, the famous place where Sabertooth resided, and Wendy knew that those people were the rivals of Fairy Tail. The Sabertooth guild used to be the strongest guild in Fiore, but then Fairy Tail took that title away from them in the Grand Magic Games of X791. If Lucy was there, it wouldn't hurt to just pay her a visit. Wendy was her friend, after all.

The maiden of the sky ran out of Lucy's apartment with Happy and Carla flying right behind her, and Wendy really wanted to see Lucy again. She wanted to make sure that Lucy was okay after going through what Natsu had done to her, and Wendy knew that Lucy would eventually be strong enough to beat him. She kept running down to the harbor at a quick pace, ready to have Carla fly her all the way across the sea to Cerulean Town, and Wendy had also brought the large wooden basket of chocolate chip cookies for Lucy to enjoy some of them. It would be good for two sweet friends to enjoy a large basket of sweet cookies, you know.

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><p><strong>In a grassy field...<strong>

Lucy and Shelly had arrived at the grassy countryside that was close to the town of Cerulean, glad that they were accompanying Sting and Rogue on this task, and seeing the white turbine windmills here had made Lucy continue to wonder about what this job would be. She was happy to be out here with her new boyfriend, seeing him smirk confidently while he also would not tell her about what would happen on this mission, and Lucy stood next to Sting as she smiled a bit. She rested her head on his right shoulder, causing the white dragon slayer to run his fingers through his girlfriend's beautiful blonde hair, and they were a cute couple.

She was glad that Sting had also gotten her some chocolate waffles for breakfast, covering them with cherry-chocolate candies as well because they were very sweet, and Lucy blushed a light shade of pink from loving how Sting had charmed her with delicious desserts. At times, she would also get lost in Sting's lovely blue eyes. He was always good at making her feel so calm and happy, having such a soothing effect on Lucy when she felt uncomfortable in any way, and Lucy was glad to be around such a great guy. She even thought that he was a really good chef, even though Sting had only told her of his great culinary skills without showing them off, so his confidence really lightened her mood when she felt down.

The wind blew through the air, seeming to be a bit odd by the fact that it was starting to circle around Shelly, and Lucy had to wonder about what was going on. The black-haired woman began to be carried into the air, making her having a stern look in her aqua blue eyes at the fact that the job would now start, and Shelly was suddenly sent flying high up into the air by the wind! Sting had looked really worried about her, as a large amount of air pressure had now sent his friend falling to the ground with a hard slam, and he quickly let Lucy know that the job for the day was taking down the Wind Demon Slayer that had been looking to settle a score with Shelly.

Lucy could guess that her friend had been glad about taking this job because of a score that had to be settled, just like how the blonde mage had a grudge against a certain fire dragon slayer, and maybe Lucy was not told about it because Shelly did not want her to intervene in a fight like this. It was true that Lucy had taken on Janine, but she had won that fight because of her friends helping her in that fight. If she had not been given those two powerful moves in that battle, Lucy would not have lasted past that day to see a battle between two Demon Slayers. This battle would solely be between them, as it seemed, and Lucy would also get to know about some history.

Shelly's opponent had been a woman whose hairstyle made her look similar to Yukino Aguria, only having the difference of her hair being light green while Yukino's hair was light blue, and her eyes were of a golden color. Yukino has hazel brown eyes, so these girls could not be related. This woman also wore a golden tank top with a dark green miniskirt as well, looking pretty good in her current attire, and she had emerged from some winds that swirled up in the air above where Shelly had landed when she fell. This was one of her non-spell abilities, as it seemed, and this antagonist simply floated down to the ground with a cocky smirk on her face while seeing Shelly quickly get up.

"It looks like you've finally showed up, Shelly Izumi. You're very famous for being the strong Water Demon Slayer, as well as being the Ice Demon Slayer who killed a joyful icy demon to get their large amount of treasure, and you are very flippy. Being a mage in a light guild does not change the fact that you've done a few dark things, such as how you killed the very demon who taught you Water Demon Slayer Magic, and you also got on my bad side. When I returned to the Sky Pillar, my blood came to a boil from seeing that my students were all defeated while you stole the TMs that I planned to use. My name is Skyla Hayato, and you must die." This woman explained to Shelly in a very miffed manner, her facial expression looking tense as if she was ready to kill her enemy while also starting to smirk again.

Simply running her left hand through her own beautiful black hair, Shelly replied in a calm manner while frowning a bit, "My personal business has nothing to do with you, so don't bring up my past. I can steal treasure if I want to, Skyla, but you should really stop acting like a leader. It's pretty obvious that you don't know how to be a real leader, since you left your little friends alone in the tower, and it's pretty sad how you think that you're great by leading those wimps. It's also fitting that I'm flippy, since you also heard that I am now Lavana's rival, and I bet that my crew can beat hers. In fact, the Plant Demon Slayer that showed up a few days ago is my little student who I'm mentoring."

Skyla had sensed the vibration from yesterday, just like some of the other Demon Slayers, but she did not know that the one with that power was Lucy. She did not even pay attention to the blonde girl, since her attention was focused on making sure that Shelly would die, but this was not only payback for the losses that her team suffered. Skyla had written that flyer as a trap, hoping to defeat the icy woman with aqua blue eyes, and this was sure to be quite a fierce battle. After all, it would be very interesting for Shelly to take on a Demon Slayer that was also part of Lavana's fierce little crew. Skyla was famous like Shelly, too, and this job would certainly not be little like a passing breeze...

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><p><strong>How was the 11th chapter? Did you like it? Sorry for not having much StiCy in this chapter, but I did not want to rush their love too much. I also wanted to give a bit more plot development to Shelly, since she has seemed a bit like a thieving protagonist, and how will this battle go? Can Shelly defeat a demon that is possibly one of the Elite Four? How wild will this get? What happens to Lucy? Standby for the update, and please review!<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>The Fierceness of Wind, The Prospect of Fun<strong>

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><p>The wind had continued to blow across the grassy field, as Lucy's cocoa brown eyes took notice of the fact that Shelly was now glaring at Skyla, and both of these fierce demon slayers looked really ready to fight. Lucy was hoping that her friend would be able to win this battle, even though her enemy seemed to be really tough, and this fight could get a bit painful. After all, it was very common for the leader of a group to always be the strongest person on the team. The ten mages who had also wielded Wind Magic were assumed to be weaker than her, since they were her students while she had been the one to teach them about the thrills of using wind, so how tough would this fight get?<p>

Shelly had started off this battle by firing five large icicles from her hands, making them hit Skyla with full force to see what kinds of spells were in her arsenal, and the black-haired woman began to smirk a bit from seeing that the Wind Demon Slayer was about to counter her icy attack. This would be a good way for Shelly to also make an analysis on each spell that Skyla would use, getting to see exactly how each of her moves would work, and that would also give Shelly the chance of finding ways to block or destroy every single spell that the green-haired woman would cast. This little strategy seemed to be quite perfect, having no flaws at all, but would that truly be the case?

Much to the shock of Shelly, her icicles had landed around Skyla. None of them had managed to hit her, even though they were right on target, and Skyla giggled a bit from seeing how her icy enemy was a bit shaken by how her attack missed. She proceeded to counter with a spell known as Wind Demon's Windy Sweep, and this move caused Skyla to stretch out her arms in opposite directions. She had closed her hands to make them now be fists, before using the air current to assist her with spinning around at a very rapid pace, and Skyla had quickly opened up her hands to make large gusts of wind spread outward in a quick manner. That was certainly interesting, was it not?

Her large gusts of wind had made five large light green blasts of energy transpire, as they had been focused on destroying the five icicles that Shelly had created, and this was only a little taste of Skyla's power. She smirked at her foe in a cocky manner, letting the woman with beautiful aqua blue eyes know that her weakest spell could do some massive damage, and Skyla also felt like this battle was hers to win. She had secretly used the wind to throw off the trajectory of her opponent's icicles, which is what really caused them to miss their intended target, and Skyla would continue to make Shelly look like a total fool.

Even though one of her moves had missed, this was not the end for Shelly. She knew that this fight was not going to be easy, since it was a battle of two demon slayers, but it was time for her to try and make Skyla know that cold winds could get just as harsh as vicious winds. She used Ice Demon's Frost Breath to exhale a breath of icy air at the woman who wielded wind, only to have Skyla use a move known as Wind Arrow for the purpose of countering Shelly's spell. This attack caused Skyla to shoot out a light green beam of energy from her left hand, smirking with delight as the winds helped the beam take the shape of a piercing arrow, and what happened next would be the first blow in this fight.

Skyla's arrow of wind had been spinning so very fast, as it pierced right through Shelly's icy breath, and it struck the black-haired woman directly! A large blast of light green energy transpired around Shelly, causing her to scream in pain, and she panted heavily while the smoke had cleared up. The green smoke was lingering while she thought that this was the perfect time to catch her breath, and she could now see that this leader was certainly not a chump. Shelly was now planning her next move, ready to strike Skyla down while the smoke had been fading away, but the parting clouds of smoke made the beautiful woman look shocked at how her opponent had now vanished.

She slowly looked up to see that Skyla had used her Wind Demon Slayer Magic to get high into the skies, being far above Shelly right now, and the black-haired woman was very shocked to see her foe inhale tons of air. Skyla exhaled it all in the form of five light green tornadoes, sending them all down towards Shelly, and they came down on her at such fast speeds! She screamed in agony while these tornadoes did so much damage, exploding in more light green blasts, and their scythe-like winds were also pretty deadly. They made many cuts and bruises on Shelly's skin, and matters became worse when she did not notice that Skyla had flown down to the ground at high speeds to deliver several powerful punches to Shelly's stomach. She coughed up some blood while struggling to stand up, never thinking that anyone could be so fast.

"Wow, you are just so very pathetic. The famous Shelly Izumi is so very powerful, but an idiot like you will never grasp that power is just an empty threat without any high speed to back it up. You were so calm about fighting me, but even seeing a few of my strong spells has made you become damaged. Maybe I should use wind to break every bone in your body, simply as payback for how you hurt my students in the Sky Pillar, and this is the end for you. I'll kill you in front of all your friends, and you're still the same dirty thief who killed the demons that taught you magic." Skyla told Shelly in a condescending manner, having a delighted smirk on her face while she slammed her left foot down on the black-haired woman's abdomen, before stomping her right foot on Shelly's left arm when she tried to use some magic.

Shelly replied weakly while trying to move, feeling pain in all of her limbs as Skyla also created a whip out of rough winds to torture her, "You may know how to counter or tear through every spell that I can use, and I don't care if you see me as a villain. I did kill my demons to obtain their full amounts of power, which came from the fact that I can be quite sadistic at times, and I was a dark mage who enjoyed being an infamous thief. It actually did feel good to be so evil, and I loved it. I'm a mage of Sabertooth now, but I don't care if you kill me. You seem to be very fast and powerful, Skyla, and maybe you're right. I just haven't changed from my thieving ways."

Her friends were all shocked by how it seemed like Shelly was giving up, almost as if she felt like Skyla could use the air to counter any attack that came her way, and it wasn't Shelly's fault that the treasure chest of TMs had been entrusted to a bunch of wimps. Skyla was pretty much at fault for her team's defeat, since she left them alone in the tower, but she could only throw Shelly against a windmill while also calling her a disgrace to all demon slayers. Shelly felt tons of pain from landing against the metal windmill, before opening her eyes to see that Skyla was about to finish this fight with one last spell.

It was known as Wind Demon's Aerial Breath, and this spell would cause Skyla to unleash a vortex of green winds from her mouth. She inhaled more air to make this spell have more power when it was executed, not even caring that her sadistic way of fighting had made Lucy look pretty angry, and Skyla quickly exhaled all of the air from her mouth for the large vortex to be created. As she was laughing evilly, however, Skyla did not take notice of Lucy kneeling down on the ground to place her hands on the green grass. She was using the Flora Heal spell, the one move that could not be used very often, and the blonde mage had a few reasons to look miffed about this fight.

Skyla's light green vortex of wind was suddenly met with many large trees that sprouted up out of the ground, and they were all positioned around the green-haired woman's spell. When it touched the fruit trees, eight pale green blasts of Plant Demon Slayer Magic transpired to fully negate it with their immense power. Skyla was stunned to see that someone else had joined in on this battle, mainly because she did not expect to find another demon slayer nearby, and she also did not think that the newest one was actually watching this fight. This could possibly be quite a turning point in the battle, since Lucy had seen Skyla's spells while she could also creatively counter them.

While the large amount of pale green smoke had to clear up around Skyla, Lucy used this chance to run over to Shelly's side. She was not weak at all, as Lucy had seen on other jobs, but it seemed like Shelly never dealt with an opponent that had so much speed. On top of that, the fact that Skyla's winds could break through ice or send water back at the black-haired woman were also very troubling dilemmas. Lucy also saw that Skyla could manipulate the wind to throw off Shelly's attacks, possibly even the strongest spells become useless, but the blonde girl had to heal her friend right now. She also needed a way to stop this speedy demon slayer, but what would work?

Lucy placed her left hand on the ground to activate the Flora Heal spell, causing a tree to grow out of the ground pretty quickly, and she smiled a bit from seeing that this tree had Oran Berries on it. They looked like oranges, even though they were blue, and the fruit had followed Lucy's thoughts to make itself fall from the tree. Not only could thee berries heal people, but they had the same chain power as Plant Demon's Bullet Seeds. For example, eating one Oran Berry would only restore 10 HP while eating two would restore 20 HP. Eating three of them would restore 40 HP, and eating four of them would restore 80 HP. (I know that it doesn't work like that in the Pokemon series, but this Plant Demon Magic can really be beneficial when people are in deep trouble.)

The blonde girl asked Shelly in a stern manner while stuffing five Oran Berries into her mouth, looking a bit miffed at how her friend was getting beaten down with ease, "I know that's not how you really fight, Shelly, so get it in gear! Stop messing around, and just beat Skyla down. She may be really fast, and I can guess that you're not really used to dealing with quick foes. Well, power and speed aren't all that it takes to win a battle. You need to have some creativity, too, so think outside the box. If you can't hit Skyla, then you can hit everything else. If you can't predict what she'll do or read her movements, then try doing something unorthodox."

As Shelly chewed on the five Oran Berries, before easily being able to swallow them, tears began to fall from her eyes. She was acting like this was her most horrible fight, which it really was, and she just wished that there was some way for her to turn it around. She could see that the smoke had finally cleared up to reveal that Skyla was angrily gritting her teeth at the fact that the Plant Demon Slayer had the nerve to join in on this battle, and the green-haired woman planned to eliminate her in one shot. While Skyla was angry, as Lucy looked really concerned, neither of them even thought that Shelly could possibly be the greatest actress in the whole country of Fiore.

The woman who wielded water and ice had begun to start melting, almost like she was ice cream while the sun was sending down its heat from the sky, and this was a great shock to Lucy. Even though Shelly was now fully healed, why in the world was her body also turning white like ice? She continued to melt, making Lucy and Skyla wonder about what was going on, and the green-haired woman laughed in a heckling manner at the fact that Lucy had now let her guard down. She simply made a drill of light green winds surround her left hand while this spell was known as Viridian Wind Shot, and this spell had a rather strange effect. What would it be?

Skyla made the drill of wind propel off of her hand, sending it flying towards Lucy at high speeds while she was also smart enough to make this spell move in a zigzag manner for the purpose of confusing Lucy. Skyla smirked in a cocky manner, as she knew that her attack would explode when it hit Lucy or her tree that had produced Oran Berries, but there was one thing that she couldn't predict. Lucy walked straight towards the spell, putting both hands in front of her body, and she could tell from the attack's height above the ground that it would hit either one of her hands. She was certainly about to bring the spell to a halt, but her cleverness would be followed by simple curiosity.

When Skyla's spell was close enough to where it could possibly touch Lucy, looking like it was about to strike her left hand, the blonde girl quickly grabbed the drill of winds! Skyla, Sting, and Rogue had not thought that it was a smart move to grab a drill of wind, but Lucy's tight grip on it had brought the rotation and power to a great halt. She had once heard from Gajeel that he could use the magic of a shadow dragon slayer because he had eaten Rogue's magic on the final day of last year's Grand Magic Games, so would the same logic apply in this situation? Lucy put Skyla's spell into her mouth, chewing up the winds to see that they had a minty flavor to them, and she simply shocked Skyla by swallowing the spell.

A light green aura began to engulf Lucy's body, the aura looking like the lovely shade of green that could be found in mint ice cream, and she looked really curious while feeling like a new power had been gained. This new magic had possibly fused with her Plant Demon Slayer Magic, which would be really awesome, and Lucy also felt air circling around her hands like she was now a user of Wind Demon Slayer Magic. She was able to use that magic now, but Lucy needed spells to go with it. She had a clever look in her cocoa brown eyes while she was making some ideas in her head, but her supposed fluke in getting this new magic had angered Skyla.

"What the hell did you just do, newbie?! You must be crazy to just eat my magic to now become a hybrid like Lavana or Heidi, and you just got lucky in catching that spell! You must be trying to mock me by planning to use your wind against mine, and let's not forget about those explosive trees that you made to negate my large vortex! You really crossed the line by entering this battle, rookie, and you might use my magic to your advantage! Did I eat up your magic or blow your spells to bits?!" Skyla asked and exclaimed while looking angry, making a total tirade about how the newest demon slayer had been messing with her while stomping her feet on the grass to insult Lucy.

Before the woman with golden eyes could fire another spell at Lucy, an unexpected voice told her in a calm tone while she could hear the sound of an ice shard cracking, "Wow, it looks like you must be the weak one in this fight. Picking on a new demon slayer who can't even fully use her powers yet would make that battle be a complete mismatch, and it looks like your true weak point is that you can't keep calm. There was never a point where it was safe to get cocky, and you also got careless when Lucy changed up this battle for a few moments. There's really nothing wrong with her eating your magic, but you were so focused on being sadistic with us that you played around too much."

Skyla began to look utterly shocked from hearing the voice that belonged to Shelly, as Lucy also seemed astounded by how the black-haired woman had recovered so quickly while she stood a few feet away from her foe, and Shelly explained what had happened. Right after those five large ice shards had missed their target, Shelly had the smart idea of using a spell known as Ice Demon's Clone. This spell could only be used if ice was already in the area, which it was, and Shelly created a clone of herself while she merged with the icy air to go into one of the ice shards. This way, the real Shelly sneaked past Skyla while using a spell known as Ice Demon's Frosty Path.

That next spell caused Shelly to go inside one of the icicles, making her now be in an icy cave while she could see what was happening in the battle, and the lovely woman with aqua blue eyes simply got to see how Skyla's spells worked. She got to take mental notes on her moves, even after the icicles were destroyed, but Shelly still stayed in the frosty cave while the ice shards were now on the ground. She also manipulated her icy clone into being weak, simply to make Skyla use up most of her magical power, and the fact that Lucy had helped out in this battle had really just given Shelly some more time to keep Skyla distracted from even thinking clearly.

The green-haired woman was shocked to know that she had been manipulated like this, since Shelly hoped that she would get angry enough to use up a large amount of magical power, and Skyla had simply been played for a fool. She gritted her teeth in anger, furious to be tricked like this, and the mad mage quickly turned around to hit Shelly right in the face. She dodged the attack, though, and Shelly had a clever smirk on her face while she was going to show her true colors to this angry demon slayer. Simply letting Skyla inhale a large amount of air to regain her magical power, Shelly yawned a bit while seeing her exhale all of that air while making it fill up a cloud in the sky.

The cloud began to grow larger, inflating while Skyla had been filling it up with air, before all of her Wind Demon Slayer Magic was unleashed from that cloud in the form of a massive light green vortex of spiraling winds! It quickly came down from the sky, being filled with tons of power, but Shelly made it change sides with a spell known as Water Demon's Cerulean Control. This move caused Shelly to fire a small blue bubble up at the vortex, which seemed really mediocre, but its effect made the large vortex turn light blue while its element of wind was being changed to water. The attack was now under Shelly's control, and most people would know that water only got more force from harsh winds. Shelly simply moved her left hand down to her side, causing the vortex to quickly slam down on Skyla.

A massive light blue blast of Water Magic had transpired, making Lucy and the others cover their eyes for at least five seconds, but the smoke cleared up to reveal that Skyla was still standing. She had taken damage from that intense attack, really starting to regret the fact that such a powerful move had been used, and Skyla knew that the only logical option left was to use weaker spells. She used Viridian Wind Shot once again, knowing that a demon slayer could not wield three types of magic at once, and the light green drill of wind propelled off of her right hand. It headed straight towards Shelly, moving at high speeds, only to not have expected the unexpected.

Shelly used a new spell known as Water Demon's Cerulean Chew, and this spell caused the black-haired woman to spit out four blobs of blue goop from her mouth. They all hit Skyla's attack, not really seeming like much, but the goop made the drill of wind turn light blue while it also began to solidify like paste that had spent tons of time on a piece of paper. The hardened drill fell on the ground, causing four large light blue blasts of Water Demon Slayer Magic occur, and this would probably show Skyla that Shelly was in a different class of strength. Power was nothing without any assist or defense spells to back it up, really making Skyla's spells be nothing more than glass cannons, and there was a clear winner in this fight.

As the light blue smoke quickly cleared up while Shelly had a stern look on her face, she told Skyla in a demanding tone as she folded her arms, "All right, then. This fight has come to an end, Skyla, so give us the 800,000 jewels that you put as the reward on the flyer. Also, go run back to Lavana and tell the other members of that little crew about how you lost against me. I'm not an idiot, and I know very well that you're a part of her team. She probably sent you to eliminate me, but that was only because Lavana hates my guts. You lost this battle today, Skyla, but you weren't only fighting me. Lucy won as well, so you lost to an expert and a newbie."

"Take the money, ok? We don't even need the cash, since Lavana brings in most of the jewels from jobs, and don't even act like you can beat all of the demon slayers. Just because that new girl has my magic, you all won't be able to even touch the great Lavana. I also doubt that you can even beat Heidi or Desertia, since they are the rook and bishop to our fiery leader, so your team may fall quite easily." Skyla replied in a cocky manner, having an evil smirk on her face while she used her wind abilities to create a large bag of 800,000 jewels.

These were real bills of cash, even though they came from the wind, and Lucy looked a bit curious about her new powers. She calmly asked Skyla about what she could do with her new Wind Demon Slayer Magic, but the green-haired woman simply vanished into the wind while telling her that she'd miss out on the fun of discovering what spells were able to be made. This new magic was coming on the heels of the fact that she just had ten spells of Plant Demon Slayer Magic, and Lucy was a bit shocked to assume that she was now a hybrid. At least she now had two types of magic that worked well together, but she would have to get this new magic up to the level of the magic that preceded it.

With the job now done, Shelly simply distributed the money to her friends while she had a happy smile on her face. Lucy and the others now had 200,000 jewels each, a pretty fine amount of money to have, and the blonde girl put the money in the left pocket of her blue jeans. She also wore a light green T-shirt with some purple running shoes as well, making her look fine as always. Lucy felt a bit bad that she and Sting did not get to have a job that they could really get thrills from, since they did not need to get in the way of Shelly's battle, and she knew that they would also have to find a great opponent to fight with.

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><p><strong>20 minutes later...<strong>

After they had left the grassy field, as well as parting ways with Shelly and Rogue for the rest of the day, Sting and Lucy had headed to the nearby town of Celadon for some peace. Having to just watch a battle between demon slayers had not really gotten Sting feeling excited, since he had hoped that Shelly would let him take on Skyla, and the white dragon slayer felt like he had mostly been in the background for quite a while. He had not done much of anything, not even helping Lucy fight Natsu at the Fairy Tail guild, so what kind of partnership were they in? Sting did not ant his girlfriend doing most of the work, even if the jobs could get totally tough.

They had been smelling the lovely scents of perfume in this town, even taking in the new aroma of oranges, but Sting did not take Lucy into this town for some fruit or bottles of perfume. He had taken her to Celadon for the purpose of getting some cups of coffee, since doing something so simple was the perfect way of taking a sweet girl like Lucy out on a date. Plus, Sting knew that he could not always be making things fancy for Lucy. She might eventually get tired of him just treating her to fancy stuff on a date, and Sting did not want her to get bored with him at any point in their relationship. He wanted to keep things exciting, and even going out for coffee could be really wonderful.

When they had entered the cafe that had been really popular in the town of Celadon, Sting and Lucy gasped in awe at the elegant green carpet with the brown walls to match. Pictures of coffee drinks and ice cream sundaes were hung on the walls, and the white dragon slayer led his date to a table in the southwest corner of the cafe. It was near the green counter where the cashier was situated, so that was great. Sting calmly smiled while pulling out Lucy's chair for her, and she happily sat down while smiling at Sting for being such a gentleman. After he sat down, both of them pushed the chairs inward to be comfortable.

Lucy knew that Sting wanted to go on a job that would have some fun to it, even if there would be a fight involved, and she had a disappointed look in her cocoa brown eyes about how the occasion had not come up yet. There would surely have to be a job that didn't have to seem so intense or be something like a hunt for treasure, but what could it possibly be? There were still towns on this side of Fiore that Lucy had not seen yet, places that she had not even reached, so the chances of finding a good job in a lively place were actually quite good. Sting and Lucy just had to have the right timing in choosing jobs, though, or the best task for the day would slip by.

The brown-eyed girl was also still wondering about the Wind Demon Slayer Magic that she had gotten from Skyla, curious to see if the spells would also remain the same, and she had to ask about who Lavana was. Until today, Lucy had never even heard of that name. This woman seemed to be very ominous, based on how Shelly had openly said that Lavana had sent someone to kill her, and Skyla had openly said that this woman was a fiery leader. That must've meant that she used Fire Demon Slayer Magic, which would pretty much cause grass to be incinerated in a furious blaze, and it seemed like she could really put Natsu to shame. However, who couldn't beat down that idiot?

"It's so weird that we can't find a good job that has us both working on it, Sting, but I'm sure that we'll find a task that we can do. Even though you didn't get to fight against Skyla, we still got lots of cash from the fact that Shelly made her run away from us. Maybe that green-haired demon slayer would've targeted me, if I had been alone, and I really don't want to get into any major brawls with those guys. I only mean to offend Natsu and not you when I say this, but Skyla and Shelly have really shown me that a demon slayer is in a very different class than a dragon slayer. Oh, well. It's not like we'll ever run into any surprises." Lucy told her boyfriend in a calm tone while her facial expression changed between disappointed and delighted.

Sting replied in a calm manner, looking pretty chilled about how things were going, "Even though we didn't directly find the thrill on our own, look at what happened. You got a very good type of magic, Lucy, and I know that you can hone it to make it be the very best type of magic out of all the ones that demon slayers can learn. Also, you should not listen to Skyla about your newbie status. Just cause you're a new demon slayer, I think that you could've kicked her butt pretty easily. Lavana will be met with my fierce white light, though, if she tries to touch you. That woman is pretty infamous, and I've heard that her two sidekicks can make battles get real. However, you can take them down."

At that moment, Lucy got up from her chair to give Sting a kiss on the lips. She was glad to hear his kind words, since she was starting to have a few doubts about even taking down the second-newest demon slayer that existed. Lucy now had some hope in her cocoa brown eyes, as well as feeling like things would go great with this new magic, and she blushed a light shade of pink while being a bit embarrassed at the fact that she was not being a proper girlfriend to Sting. They had not spent the day tickling each other, making out, feeding sweet desserts to each other, or doing anything that could be considered very infatuating. Well, they did just recently become a couple. There was no need to rush a great romance, you know.

Making a relationship not just be about work would certainly prove to bring more joy to Sting and Lucy, since the last few tasks involved quite a bit of tension, but the love that they shared had really been doing well. Sting would always be there to catch Lucy when she fell, and Lucy would always be around to help Sting out with anything that needed to get done. They were both thinking about having some fun tomorrow, getting to just relax, and let's just say that a certain maiden of the sky would be surprising Lucy when she got back to the Sabertooth guild. After all, this surprise would be showing up with three characters who could finally be seen instead of only being mentioned.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 12? Did you like this 2nd solely-Sabertooth chapter? Sting and Lucy will keep building chemistry, even as they're boyfriend and girlfriend, and the romance will heat up some more in this story! They shall have fun, enjoyment, love, and that makes StiCy great! As for the fans of NaLu, you will get your chance to like some of this romantic story as well. What happens next, you ask? Standby for the next update!<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Reunions &amp; Revelations<strong>

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><p>Sting and Lucy had started off this next morning by going down to the guildhall of the resort, sitting down at a table while they were also eating two plates of sweet strawberry pancakes, and both of the mages had calm smiles on their faces. Lucy was glad to have gained Wind Demon Slayer Magic from eating Skyla's spell, and her breath would smell like mint chocolate chip ice cream when she would exhale air from her mouth. She had not used or made any spells yet, since there was the possibility of Skyla's moves already being given to Lucy as well, and Sting had suggested that they test out those wind-based attacks in a place where no innocent people would get hurt.<p>

Today was the day for the heroic duo to simply have some fun, since they did not have much luck with finding a job that could really give them a thrill, and Sting really wanted to just relax with Lucy. Having her fight by his side on nearly a daily basis was cool, even though the blue-eyed male was miffed at himself for just watching Lucy fight while not really helping her out that much, but Sting knew that fun was the best way to improve a relationship. This would be a great way for him and Lucy to bond more as well, since Sting did love a woman that could be really sweet like funnel cake. The thought of eating such a delicious treat had made Sting have joy in his charming blue eyes, you know.

He was giving Lucy a kind smile, really happy that he would get to surprise her with his idea of how they could spend their day, and Sting was so glad that he had chosen such a great activity. For one thing, it wasn't really fun for him to watch Shelly and Skyla battle it out in the grassy field because of the fact that the black-haired woman let her foe go. It was pretty clear that some people could open up their big mouths, and Shelly's green-haired enemy had proved to be quite a talker when she made a tirade against Lucy for eating her Wind Demon Slayer Magic. To put it simply, Sting did not want Lucy to be in any kind of danger because of how Skyla might blab to Lavana about what went wrong.

Sting just wanted to keep Lucy from getting into any large amounts of trouble, since the other demon slayers were more experienced with their skills, and that's one more good reason about why this would just be a day for fun. Sting would also get to give some sweet kisses to Lucy as well, since they had not been making out as much as he had hoped, but he also knew that more romance was needed in their relationship. Being cute with Lucy was very fine, but Sting had blushed a light shade of pink from imagining how his lovely girlfriend would look in a pink bikini. Lucy would probably look so sexy, even loving Sting's touch when he put sunscreen on her body, and that would seem so hot.

His mind went back to the day when he had seen Lucy wearing only a towel, letting his hands gently touch her soft buns, and feeling her chest against his body had caused Sting to love how Lucy was so beautiful. The blond male was pretty glad to be spending this day of fun with his girlfriend, since he also planned to let her see his wicked skills in the town that they would be going to, and all of the money that was given to them from yesterday's fierce battle would really prove to come in handy. Sting really did want to have a good time with Lucy, and he was planning on seeing to it that they had fun. Besides, on a cheerful day like this, what in the world could possibly end up going wrong?

Sting told Lucy in a confident manner while he gave her a grin of joy, batting his beautiful blue eyes in an attempt to enchant the brown-eyed girl, "Since the past few days have been so tense, Lucy, I think that we should go out and have some fun. It's always good to relax, and being around you just makes me so very happy. Besides, going on tense jobs all the time won't really make things seem so romantic. After all, it is always good to have pleasure over power. We are going to be visiting a new town on this side of Fiore, Lucy, and I want us to have tons of awesome fun together. In fact, this town also has good fashion and it's famous for the tasty funnel cake."

The blonde girl replied in an excited manner while she was eating her blueberry pancakes, Lucy's brown eyes being filled with joy at the thought of having fun with Sting, "Of course I'd love to have a fun day with you, my strong and sweet Sting! Back at the coffee shop in Celadon, I was kind of thinking about having a joyful day with you. It would be so fun for us to relax under the sun or go to the beach, but I would love to go see the other towns in Fiore. Besides, just imagining the taste of funnel cake has really made me want to get some of it. I would enjoy sharing it with you, Sting, and we could even relax on the beach while you would be shirtless and looking so buff."

Her own last words had made Lucy blush a light shade of pink, since she had even been dreaming about how Sting had such a great body, and she had even bathed in a hot spring with him to know that he was a pretty sexy guy. Lucy sighed happily while she could also guess that the funnel cake would be shared between herself and Sting, with him cutely feeding her some of that sweet dessert, and the blonde girl would also be sure to get some red velvet cookies as well. She loved to feed sugary sweets to her boyfriend, since he was also nice enough to feed her, and Lucy was glad that Sting was always by her side. In fact, she had even gone on a job with him to be interviewed about how awesome he had been to her and the other members in the guild of Sabertooth.

Sting had been glad to have Lucy by his side, knowing that she could be so nice and happy about good situations, and let's just say that he was always pretty glad to have woken up before her. There was a certain surprise that had been waiting for the brown-eyed girl, and she would also get to finally see three people that had not really been in the Sabertooth guild very often. That is why the white dragon slayer had told them to wait for him and Lucy to arrive in the town of enjoyment, ready to give a few good surprises to his girlfriend, and he would make sure that this was a really fun day. Even if Sting had to attack guys who tried to hit on Lucy, that would still make things be fun.

Lucy also seemed a bit curious about where Shelly, Rogue, and Frosch had gone off to, but Sting simply told her that they had left the guild early this morning to handle a job in a place known as Haruba Town. That place was near a vast desert with vicious sandstorms raking over its golden sand, and Lucy hoped that her friends were doing okay. Sting assured her that things would be all right, knowing that his two other friends could handle whatever they had to do, and he had gotten up from the table while finishing the last bit of his blueberry pancakes. Lucy was now done with her breakfast, making her get up from the table as well, and the two blondes ran out of the resort's entrance doors. They were also quickly joined by Lector, who gave Sting a high-five for being able to charm a great girl like Lucy.

While Lucy was about to go have a great amount of fun with Sting and Lector, how were the people in the guild of Fairy Tail doing? There were no demon slayers in that rowdy guild, but the Celestial Spirit Wizard had heard a slight bit of news from Shelly about a scarlet-haired woman getting her armors melted away by intense fire. Lucy could guess that Erza had taken on the woman known as Lavana before the fight at the Fairy Tail guild, which would explain why the great Titania had not used her armors or swords, but Lucy really had to care less for a former friend that supported the cheating ways of Natsu. In fact, the funnel cake that she was going to eat had a high chance of being sweeter than he could ever be.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Natsu had stubbornly gotten out of his bed in the guild's infirmary, burning off all of his bandages, and he still felt pain when he tried to move any part of his body. The fire dragon slayer had really needed to be back in bed, as Lisanna suggested while she sat in a chair right next to him at a table in the guildhall, and Natsu felt so worried about losing the big alliance for his plan to have an affair with his white-haired lover. Lisanna kindly assured him that he would not lose the respect of anyone, even though he really had lost the respect of many people by trying to kill Lucy, and things were looking pretty bad for that dense guy.

Even though he was now dating Lisanna, one thing still could not find its way out of Natsu's mind. He could not believe that Lucy had been kissing Sting, the cocky guy who was his rival in last year's Grand Magic Games, and the pink-haired male felt enraged from how his ex had kissed her new lover right in front of his eyes. Well, it really was not entirely the beautiful blonde's fault that she moved on to a guy that really cared about her. After all, she had been in emotional pain from seeing Natsu kiss Lisanna and hearing them both talk in a happy manner about ousting her from the four-person team because of her weak skills.

Lucy certainly was not weak when she had kicked Natsu's butt, feeling glad that people could see her new amount of strength as a Plant Demon Slayer, and she had also showed Natsu that she would no longer be used by him. She would no longer believe any lies that he would tell her to cover up the fact that he was in an affair with Lisanna, and Lucy had also beaten down her stupid ex to let him know that they were officially broken up. Even if they had technically broken up when Natsu started to lead her on with his actions of deceit and disloyalty, Lucy had used her strength to tell Natsu that she would never go running to him when she would be upset.

Natsu also hated the fact that Lucy had now joined the guild of Sabertooth, teaming up with the people who were the rivals of Fairy Tail, and he looked miffed about his thoughts while wanting to call her a dirty traitor for joining up with those guys. The ironic thing about him acting like she was deceitful, however, was that Natsu had deceived Lucy by lying to her and going behind her back to be in bed with Lisanna. Besides, the fire dragon slayer had also put the wrong name down on the envelope for the contest of winning a trip to the resort. It was a total fluke that Lucy got in, but it was good fate that really caused her to win.

Lisanna did not feel right to hold her loss of the grand prize against Natsu, since there was nothing that could really be done about it, and she may still not have won the grand prize if Natsu had put her name on that envelope. There was no way to control a lottery or contests that chose winners by a pure game of chance, but there were also some little doubts in the mind of the blue-eyed girl. As she ate a large peanut butter and chocolate cake that was on her place, Lisanna looked a bit worried about the fact that a tiny piece of Natsu's heart made him put Lucy's down. He had been dating them both at that time, you know.

She knew that having Lucy out of the picture would allow her to spend more time with Natsu, since Lisanna had been his true love, but the youngest Strauss sibling had never really known if Natsu's heart had always agreed with his head. He loved her enough to still be with her, which had to say something about who he was truly in love with, and Lisanna remembered how Natsu had said that he was not fully awake when he wrote the letter late at night. Even if that was the case, Lisanna still felt the need to ask some questions. She had also seen how Natsu held Lucy in his arms after she was tortured in the Naval Battle last year, you know.

"I know that we tend to laugh at any jokes that ridicule her or misery that concerns Lucy, Natsu, but did you really love her before you moved on to me? Did you two ever share any passionate kisses, as well as having any little nights of intimacy? I'm only asking because it's good to prevent your head and heart from going on to two different paths, and I really love you. I don't want you to leave me, even if you do think about all of the adventures that you went on with Lucy." Lisanna asked and explained to her fiery lover while she spoke in a calm manner, showing the utmost concern for the romantic loyalty and the emotional stability of her boyfriend.

Natsu replied to the questions about Lucy while looking and sounding miffed, before speaking about his white-haired lover in a kind manner, "I really don't know what I was thinking when I chose to love Lucy, and she cried so much on our adventures. She always got kidnapped, and even dating her was so boring. Lucy was never fun on dates, and she refused to let me touch her when we slept together. At least you're the exact opposite of that traitor, Lisanna. You're so kind and sweet to me, so I know that you're cool enough to not be friends with or date someone's worst enemy to get back at them. You make me so very happy, unlike that flippy Lucy. She had no right to flip on the guild of Fairy Tail to join Sabertooth, but we'll literally kick her big betraying butt at next year's Grand Magic Games."

Lisanna seemed a bit confused at how Natsu could think that Lucy's butt was big, since it really was not large, and the fire dragon slayer even started telling a funny story about how Lucy ate magical cookies that made her get fat. Natsu had given Lucy some comfort throughout her seven-hour ordeal, since the effects from the cookies worn off after she fully digested them, and tickling her stomach had made Lucy laugh happily. Natsu and Happy even rolled her up and down the dirt path to the Fairy Tail guild, but sending her rolling through buildings was even more fun. Even though Lucy had screamed and cried while getting stuck in a brick wall with only her stomach sticking out, Natsu had still hugged her and kept her warm with his flames to calm her down while she would need to shed those 450 new pounds that were temporarily gained.

His jokes about Lucy had always given a few decent answers to Lisanna, yet Natsu's feelings towards Lucy would leave her with questions as well. Speaking of questions, where in the world had Happy gone to? The blue Exceed had told Lisanna and Natsu that he was going to pay his respects to a person that he missed, even though this person was not dead, and the white-haired mage was just hoping that Happy would be okay. Not only would he have to help Natsu decorate the guild in a fancy way for his year-long anniversary of being with Lisanna, but Happy also wanted everyone to have a great time at the party that was coming up. Really, who did not like parties?

Natsu had also stopped telling his story because of how Lisanna kept looking around in the guild, clearly trying to see if she missed the sight of Happy coming into Fairy Tail when neither her or Natsu had been paying attention to that, and the fire dragon slayer was curious about where his flying friend could be. He had never known that Happy had any friends or family that passed away, not really trying to find the deeper meaning of Happy going somewhere to "show his respects", and Natsu put a finger to his lips while he had to wonder where Happy had gone to. It was not like him to be out for a whole day now, even if parting could be sad, but Natsu did not know that Happy would soon be reuniting with an old friend that he really loved while Natsu's love and thoughts about her were seeming to get conflicted.

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><p><strong>In Glitz Town...<strong>

Sting decided to start off this day of fun by taking Lucy to Glitz Town, a place that was known for mostly being nothing more than a large amusement park with its best attraction being the Ferris Wheel, and the white dragon slayer smirked in a cocky manner from seeing Lucy's cocoa brown eyes twinkle with delight. She looked very happy from also seeing the high-speed roller coaster, casinos, restaurants, prize booths, photo booths, cannons, and Lucy could also see that there was a ride known as the Super Shuttle. It simply looked like a space shuttle that went around in 360 degrees at high speeds, even having people be upside down while they were strapped into the seat belts, and it looked pretty fun.

There was also an ice cream shoppe in this town as well, which had made as much cash as the concession stands that were close to it, and Lucy could smell all of the fine desserts that were being created. The concession stands were also selling things like nachos covered in hot cheese and they also sold large cheeseburgers, thus having a variety of great food for people, and this town of enjoyment was actually where Rufus had learned to use his Memory-Make Magic for the purpose of creating gourmet food. He had passed those skills on to the chefs at the luxurious resort that doubled as the Sabertooth guild, which would explain why the food was always turning out to be so great.

Lucy could also see that there was a small area with cotton candy spinners as well, each of the three spinners making a different flavor of the sweet treat, and that made the blonde girl wonder about what she would eat first on her day of fun. Lucy wore an amethyst purple midriff shirt with a black miniskirt to match, making Sting smirk nicely at her choice of fashion for the day, and her flat shoes had been sapphire blue. She always knew how to look pretty good for each day, even using a royal purple ribbon to tie her beautiful blonde hair in a ponytail on the left side of her head, and Lucy had a confident smile on her face while looking very ready to chow down on so much food.

Sting chuckled a bit while he could hear the growling of Lucy's stomach, making her blush a light shade of pink while she smiled softly at him, and the white dragon slayer gave his girlfriend a soft kiss on the lips. Lucy kissed back while blushing more, wrapping her arms around his neck, and she enjoyed the kiss while feeling Sting wrap his arms around her waist. He deepened the sweet kiss for a moment, before ceasing it and telling her in a flirty manner that it would be smarter to go on some rides before getting some delicious food. He did not want Lucy to puke, which would only be okay if she did that to Natsu, and Sting also did not want her to end up getting sick.

They did not really know what to do first, since there was never a real possibility to plan out every single move, but Sting began to smile a bit as he could smell three certain people headed his way. They were also walking with a fourth person, a certain blue-haired maiden of the sky, and Sting had walked over to one of the concession stands with Lucy. Even though he knew that they would both be able to win all the prizes, Sting simply stood by the concession stand with Lucy while he could see that two of his friends were eating some plates of nachos as they came out of a photo booth that was nearby. They also had two Exceeds with them, and hearing some familiar giggles caused Lucy to turn around while having a very happy smile on her face.

She looked very happy at the sight of seeing Wendy Marvell, the sky dragon slayer from the guild of Fairy Tail, and the young girl was standing beside the very kind Celestial Spirit Wizard known as Yukino Aguria. She was the woman who looked like Skyla, only having light blue hair and brown eyes as the main difference, and Yukino also had a blue rose in her hair. She and Wendy had both given Lucy a big hug, since they had not seen her in such a long time, and Yukino had only heard that Lucy had joined Sabertooth. She wanted to welcome her friend for switching guilds, but the two girls had never really been in the fabulous resort at the same time for their paths to cross.

Lucy told her friends in a happy manner with joy in her brown eyes, smiling with joy as they finished the hug, "I've missed you so much, Wendy! I guess that you read the note that I left for you, since it looks like you came all the way here to surprise me, and I'm so glad to see you again! By the way, I'm a demon slayer that can now use the powers of plants and wind. Yukino, it's also great that we met up again. I never knew that people could join Sabertooth by winning the grand prize in a contest, and that's how I got here. The crazy thing that you may not believe, though, is that my deceitful ex-boyfriend named Natsu caused me to win that trip to the luxurious resort."

Wendy replied sweetly, looking very happy to reunite with her best friend, "Sting told me all about how you got so much stronger, Lucy, and how you are so very sweet to him. I think that you two make a cute couple, and he even told me the funny story of how you ate Skyla's minty Wind Demon Slayer Magic to make her go on a really big tirade about that. He also said how you blush so very cutely while you're so fashionable and smart, and Sting also told me that he thinks Shelly can take down Erza. I just hope that Erza-san does not still hate you, Lucy, since Yukino told me that Minerva could get on to her level of fearsome."

Since Sting probably did not tell Wendy about Lucy's fight with Natsu, the blonde girl could only let out a happy giggle at the fact that Sting had given her so much flattery. She was glad to not hear Wendy bring up any of the drama, since she had not even been around for it, and Lucy did not forget to give a nice greeting to Carla. She flew in the air above Wendy, having an elegant smile on her face while her beauty got the attention of Lector, and Sting was glad that he had given his red Exceed a day off from work. Sting's greatest pupil would have the chance to try out some of his flirting skills on Carla, just like how Sting had been using his great skills to impress Lucy.

Happy had also came along with Wendy and Carla, much to the surprise of Lucy, and the blue Exceed kindly told Lucy that he was very sorry for the way that Natsu treated her. No one ever deserved to get their heart broken by such a rude jerk, and Lucy also did not deserve to be told lies by people that she thought of as friends. She did understand that Happy would not be the type to just openly take sides, since he wanted to be friends with Lucy and Natsu, so she would not force him to flip sides like how she had done. Lucy also gave Happy a friendly hug, glad that they could still be on good terms, but she comically scolded him when he said that her melons had grown a bit since the last time that he had seen her.

Yukino told Sting that Rufus and Orga were eating food at a restaurant right now, which would explain why they did not come along with the girls, and the kind woman with light blue hair also suggested to Sting that he should try the funnel cake. Even though it was totally tasty, as Lucy had wanted some, Sting told Yukino and the others that they should take the smart path by having fun on the rides before getting something to eat. Not only would fun work up an appetite, but having fun before eating would also keep anyone from getting sick. Besides, based on what was about to transpire next, Sting would be quite glad that neither him or Lucy had eaten much food today.

Wanting to have some time alone on their day of fun, Sting and Lucy had both told Yukino and the others that they would go look around at the rest of the amusement park while they would also decide on what to do first. Sting had wanted to go on some rides while Lucy wanted to get some food, as they passed by the town's candy store, but splitting up for those tasks to be done individually would not be a good idea. As the duo walked by the four cannons that were aimed straight up at the sky, shooting out balloons that made fireworks, Sting stopped for a moment to check out the fact that one of the cannons was destroyed while looking like something made it explode.

Sting squatted down to touch the broken metal object, only to get shocked by a high amount of voltage, and Lucy looked worried while seeing the white dragon slayer quickly pull his left hand away from the cannon. These attractions were not fueled by electricity, unlike the rides and shops, so there was no internal malfunction. It seemed like the lightning came from an outside source, even though this damage looked to be recently done because of how there was still smoke coming from the damaged cannon, and there had never been storms transpiring over Glitz Town. There was someone at fault for causing harm to this cannon, since they could also rig the other ones to explode for the sake of hurting other people, and Sting looked tense while Lucy also shared his thought about who could've done such a horrible thing.

The blonde girl heard a female voice shout in a combative tone, not really sounding very amused in a place that was meant to really be fun, "Who in the world do you think you are, to not let me on this ride?! I am much better than all of those dumb losers that you let on to the pirate ship, but you won't let me have some fun because of what you're seeing?! I'm not going to obey your sissy rule that all mages must be careful to not use magical power in this town, and I should mess you and this ride up by making it explode! I can even make the ride go much faster while its high amount of speed would kill these people, buddy, so you have to let me on this ride or feel my wrath!"

Lucy and Sting curiously turned around to hear that a woman was arguing with one of the employees while she had been afar from them, standing in front of a pirate ship that could swing back and forth to make things fun, and this woman had yellow lightning spiraling around her body. That was possibly why she wasn't allowed on the ride, since she sounded like it could even go haywire from feeling her touch, but now she was going to make it explode? On top of that, wouldn't her electric touch make the pirate ship go way too fast while it was swinging in midair? Would that not be really harmful to the people on that ride, since they could seriously die from the high speed?

Sting groaned a bit while being pretty miffed about the fact that some chick had to ruin his day of fun with Lucy, since he just wanted to not have a day that was filled with tension, and he simply ran towards the pirate ship while holding Lucy's left hand in his right hand. Besides, based on the fact that he was a dragon slayer, Lucy knew that her confident boyfriend would just get motion sick from even being on the roller coaster or the pirate ship. Still, it was never really good to hear anyone say that they were about to make something explode. This woman had to be really serious about the skills that she wielded, or she was just highly crazy and volatile.

This was now the chance for Lucy to test out her new Wind Demon Slayer Magic, as she looked determined to put this whiny woman's selfish plan to a halt, and she created her first spell to really introduce her new type of magic. It was known as Wind Demon's Breeze, and this move caused Lucy to spit out a miniature mint green ball of wind from her mouth. It headed straight for Lucy's new foe, only creating a gust of wind that blew her back a few feet while the mint green sphere of air had simply vanished when it gently touched her back, and the blonde woman turned around quick at the speed of lightning. She certainly did have quick reflexes, which got noticed by Sting and Lucy.

The white dragon slayer told this woman in a stern tone, his blue eyes being filled with a sense of exasperation from dealing with an enemy, "Listen, lady. If you can't get on that ride, then go somewhere else. Ski down an icy mountain or something, but we're going to let you walk out of Glitz Town freely if you promise not to cause anymore trouble in the amusement park. Lucy and I are trying to have some fun today, especially after the fact that we mostly had to watch our friend Shelly play around with a demon slayer named Skyla, so don't go around creating a mess that we have to waste time cleaning up. If you don't comply with us, we have no problem taking you out."

Upon hearing what Sting had to say, this lovely woman could only giggle a bit in a seductive manner while her lips formed an evil smile. She felt like laughing at him, mainly because he thought that she was just a casual villain, and this woman quickly looked serious as she let Sting know that he had no idea about how his mouth had just gotten him into a bad situation. The lady with blonde hair introduced herself as Heidi Rakurai, the Lightning Demon Slayer that was in the crew formed by Lavana, and that made Sting become quite shocked about who he had just talked to in such a stern manner. Lucy also seemed tense, knowing this would be her first battle with another demon slayer, and the situation looked grim because of Shelly not being around.

Heidi had worn a simple yellow T-shirt with some blue jeans to match, and she also wore some yellow sneakers as well. She giggled a bit from also hearing Shelly's name, before telling Sting that the Water Demon Slayer was only the fifth-strongest one out of them all, and Heidi let him know that she was in the top three while only being outranked by two other girls. She turned to Lucy, as she found that wind to be similar with moves that Skyla would use, and Heidi smirked evilly as she let her new enemy know that it would be fun to teach the Plant Demon Slayer to know her place against the others that were far superior to her.

It seemed like Skyla really had told the other girls in her crew about Lucy, since Heidi began to speak of the fact that the brown-eyed girl had the advantage on grassy terrain, and the brick-paved roads were not exactly the place for plant roots to be summoned. Even if Lucy could get on to some grass and use plant-based attacks, Heidi's Lightning Demon Slayer Magic might fry her moves. She showed off her strength by firing a beam of lightning from her mouth, her purple eyes having malice in them while the beam struck Sting directly, and a large yellow blast of lightning had transpired! Its electric waves began to speed up the rides, which would definitely cause havoc.

Sting decided to strike back with his White Dragon's Roar, firing a white laser beam of light from his mouth, but Heidi did not even dodge his attack. She just stood there to take the attack, and the smoke cleared up quickly to reveal that Sting's move did not even make a little scratch. This caused Heidi to have a flirty look in her eyes while she told her blue-eyed opponent that she had enough control over her lightning to make it form a barrier around almost any attack that came her way. Lucy's attack from earlier had made a mint green aura surround her own body, as opposed to the aura being around the opponent's body, and this fight was far from over. Could Lucy win, though?

She chose to quickly create the second spell that was known as Aerial Slice, and this move caused the brown-eyed girl exhale a deep breath of air while a mint green aura engulfed her right hand. Lucy slashed at the air with that hand, creating an invisible wave of air, and this wave grew with distance. It was possibly powerful enough to slice through Heidi's electric shield with ease, and the air wave had suddenly made a large mint green blast of wind energy occur when Lucy had closed her right hand. The aftermath had made five waves of air spread out, before converging together over the crater where Heidi stood while they would hit her with tremendous force.

The mint green smoke cleared up quickly to reveal that Heidi had dodged that attack with lightning speed, most likely to really show Lucy the true powers of an expert demon slayer, and the blonde woman made an orb of yellow electricity form in front of her mouth. A massive beam of yellow electricity was quickly fired from the orb, hitting Lucy directly, and a large blast of Lightning Demon Slayer Magic had made some people think that the town was now having live-action shows to get more of a profit. Heidi had used her lightning speed to confound Sting, before using that same attack on him as well. Wow, wasn't she fierce?

Heidi told her foes in a calm manner while a yellow aura had now surrounded her body, looking like she really wanted to laugh at how they actually thought that the wielder of lightning was in the same league as Skyla and Shelly, "How do you like the deadly feeling of Lightning Demon's Charge Beam? Not only is it a fierce attack by itself, but its chain power will give some higher voltage to my other spells as well! You made a really bad mistake to approach me, fools, and now it looks like you paid the price for it! If not, then I'm afraid that we will just have to take this game to a difficulty that's higher than the easy level."

Sting asked her in a fierce tone, as he was wounded while trying to stand up, "That's really all you've got, Heidi? Lucy and I have dealt with much tougher enemies than you, so why don't you come at us with your full power? If you can't do that, then did you ever think that you're still weak because you aren't the demon slayer? Do you follow Lavana because you know that you can't beat her?"

The blonde woman had seen through his little trick to get her angry, since she had kept her cool while proceeding to use a new spell known as Lightning Demon's Discharge, and this move made Heidi shoot out a large yellow ball of lightning from her left hand. It quickly hit Sting in his abdomen, as another yellow blast of lightning had transpired, and the electricity was causing great pain to him. The electricity had also hit Lucy as well, causing her to scream in agony from the intense voltage while she tried to stand up, and the brown-eyed girl felt like it might fry her mind. Heidi laughed evilly, but she did not know that the tables of this battle would slightly turn.

Lucy still had a determined look in her cocoa brown eyes while she tried to stand up, still noticing that the mint green aura was faintly surrounding Heidi's body, and she simply used her Wind Demon's Breeze spell five more times to blindside Heidi with some chain power. The green spheres of air had gently hit the beautiful villain, making breezes simply pass her by as well, and that led right into the next spell for Lucy to use. It was known as Wind Demon's Minty Tornadoes, and this move would surely cause tons of havoc to Heidi. Lucy was smart enough to make these moves quickly, and she really wanted to end this battle.

This spell caused five green tornadoes of wind to float around in a circle, as they surrounded Lucy, and she sent them all towards Heidi in an attempt to fizzle out her electric shield. While Lucy's large tornadoes of wind had struck Heidi from five different directions, merging together to create a massive mint green blast of energy that focused its power on a single point, the large amount of wind that came from the blast had entered Lucy's mouth. She could feel her stamina and magical power being restored, but this move could only heal energy while it was unable to heal wounds. That was truly quite a bad drawback, right?

Sting could now see that he would have to activate White Drive for this fight, which he did, and the white dragon slayer simply took off his blue vest and cream-colored shirt to keep Lucy impressed while he would be taking down Heidi. Sting ran towards her with a lot more speed, taking her by surprise while he dealt many harsh punches to her face, and he made a scratch be under his opponent's right eye. Sting had even kicked her up into the air while he sprang up into the sky to be at eye level with her, before being able to deal a harsh kick to Heidi's chest, but she had hoped that this battle would involve some close combat.

Heidi had winced in pain from feeling Sting kick her in the chest, feeling even more pain as mint green blasts of energy began to surround her while she took damage from them, and the Lightning Demon Slayer vanished in a flash of yellow lightning to reappear on the ground without having to take the hard fall that Sting would have to endure. He fell out of the sky, landing in front of Heidi while she had giggled a bit while seeing him hit the ground, and she spoke in a seductive tone as her facial expression became rather venomous. Even though Lucy's first spell had a sneaky effect that had found Heidi's weakness, the blonde woman wanted to know how Sting would atone for the scratch that was on her face.

While Heidi was now distracted, though, this was the perfect chance for Lucy to use the fourth spell of Wind Demon Slayer Magic. The brown-eyed girl could see that her first spell seemed to work slowly, but it was actually like a few wind bombs that could only detonate when their user exhaled even the tiniest bit of air. She was now ready to use her final spell, since not being used to this new magic had made Lucy pant heavily while her magical power nearly became down to zero, and this spell would be known as Wind Demon's Decimating Force. This would not be her strongest spell, even if the name did sound a little bit scary, but Lucy simply had to try and take out Heidi.

Narrowing her brown eyes, she unleashed a spiraling vortex of green winds into the air and molded the Wind Magic to the the point where it could absorb air to make the vortex grow much larger. It could obviously be used to strike foes that were airborne, and Lucy could also use this spell on the ground to destroy objects that were straight ahead in her line of sight or propel herself into the air to prepare for a pretty wicked attack. She aimed it down at the ground to make it go speeding off towards Heidi, hoping that this last move would work, but Lucy was shocked to see Heidi vanish in a flash of lightning. In order to not hit the pirate ship, since that's where the spell was headed, Lucy simply told her spell to cease. The winds quickly disappeared, and this fight had ended.

"Well, I can't really say that I'm shocked about these results. Lucy Heartfilia, if that is the correct name told to me by Lavana, you truly do need more training. I heard about you beat Janine, sweetie, but that's no reason for you to think that you're hot stuff. Your partner is quite hot, but even he was too arrogant to think that you could take me on. It's clear that you don't know how to work with your hybrid abilities yet, and this was your first battle without Shelly's help. Brute force gets you nowhere without always planning ahead, and you need more patience. I look forward to the day when you aren't such a rookie." Heidi told Lucy in a calm manner while absorbing the excess electricity from the rides to slow them down, as she used that energy to perfectly heal and be rid of her facial bruise.

As Heidi disappeared once again in a flash of lightning, knowing that her partner would come along later to restore the ground to its natural state, Lucy sighed sadly while knowing that this was her first true loss as a mage of Sabertooth. She really should've known better than to take on a person that was the third-best demon slayer, even more powerful than Shelly, and Lucy groaned in frustration at the fact that Shelly might scold her harshly for trying to stop Heidi from hurting those people. Skyla had said that Lucy did not stand a chance against that woman, and it seemed that her thoughts were totally true. At least Lucy didn't face her destruction, right?

Sting told his girlfriend in a calm tone while putting back on his shirt and vest, knowing that she must've felt like blaming herself for this loss, "Hey, don't feel bad. We stopped Heidi from hurting people, and that's what matters. She didn't waste any of our time, since we didn't even have a plan about what to do first in this town, but fighting a tough demon slayer truly does work up an appetite. In fact, it's making me pretty hungry to just think about it. We can check out the rides when you feel totally cool about going on them, but we should satisfy our stomachs before we go off to have any kind of fun. We were actually so focused on having fun while we battled Heidi, that a mutual motive stopped our little quarrel."

Before the white dragon slayer could keep on talking, Lucy gave him a lovely kiss on the lips for how he had been making her feel better. Sting always knew how to cheer her up when she was feeling down, and Lucy was so glad that she got to fight alongside him. They had both been wanting a day of fun that would be really great, even if a little brawl took up 15 minutes of their time, and Lucy had happiness in her cocoa brown eyes as she giggled at the sound of Sting's stomach growling. It looked like the guy who chose not to eat first had been fighting on a somewhat empty stomach, so that could also be another reason why him and Lucy lost the fight against Heidi.

Even though Lucy had just gotten her Wind Demon Slayer Magic, she really had to wonder if Shelly had anymore of those TMs for her to use. She would've liked to have some new moves, since it would be smart to have something like a shield that could reflect a demon slayer's magic right back at them, and the blonde girl knew that it was not possible for a demon slayer or a dragon slayer to eat their own magic. She had even asked her boyfriend if roller coasters would cause him to get motion sick, but Sting assured her that he never saw a roller coaster as transportation. He would be too caught up in the thrill for that, even though Rogue still kept him from ever riding one.

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><p><strong>Two hours later...<strong>

After finding an abandoned picnic table on the grassy part of the park, Lucy sat under the shade of a nearby tree with Sting and Lector. Yukino and the others had also joined them at the table, with Rufus and Orga sitting down as well, and both of the males were glad that Lucy had enjoyed Sting's surprising day of fun for her. Rufus had used his Memory-Make magic ten minutes earlier to fix the area where the battle with Heidi transpired, pretty glad that he walked by the area to find out what all that noise was about, and he sighed a bit at the fact that some demon slayers just loved to cause trouble.

As Lucy had smiled a bit, her mind had a happy montage about the activities that she did with Sting. She got to see him win 300,000 jewels as the grand prize for knocking down five stacks of bottles with ten baseballs at a concession stand, which was impressive, and the blue-eyed male had also won 500 thousand jewels at another prize booth for being able to guess how many tasty jelly beans were in a jar. Even though Sting and Lector had eaten all of the jelly beans to reach a total of 500, Lucy still found it to be very great how Sting's love of candy had really made them both feel very happy.

They had also gotten some red velvet ice cream at the shop that sold many different flavors of the sweet treat, and Lucy could now say that the red velvet ice cream was much better than its cake counterpart. The ice cream had been so very creamy and delicious, making Lucy have a very joyous look on her face from possibly tasting a piece of heaven, but that was not as good as the mint ice cream cake that Lucy got to share with Sting and Lector. That cake simply tasted so very good, much better than anything that Mira could make at the Fairy Tail guild, and this day of fun had made Lucy really realize her feelings of love.

They were no longer just little feelings for Sting, as she was really starting to love the guy who had recently became her boyfriend, and Lucy could feel her heart beat with a happy warmth when she was around him. Lucy had loved Sting's touch, since his hands were so smooth, and she enjoyed making out with him today. The duo did not even care that they were being watched by the paparazzi for Sorcerer Magazine, mainly because Sting was a very famous guy, and Lucy also found it to be very awesome that Sting beat a clown in a juggling contest. He had managed to juggle ten oranges, something that made Lector smirk confidently about his best friend's level of talent.

In the present hour, though, Lucy and Sting were both being told by Rufus that it was never safe to take on a demon slayer by themselves. Both of them had looked really bruised up by Heidi's blasts, as they sat at the table with Wendy and the others, so it was really no surprise that Rufus had mostly berated Sting for trying to take down someone like Heidi without having another expert demon slayer around. In fact, Rufus could've even used his Memory-Make Magic to try and take her down. He let Sting know that it would've been smarter to lead Heidi away from the town, as to not risk anything dangerous happening, and the white dragon slayer did start to realize that.

Rufus also told Lucy that she was very lucky to be alive, as it seemed like Heidi had been playing with her because of the thought that she was weak, and the calm man adjusted his hat while letting her know that there was a crew of demon slayers who liked to cause trouble on this side of Fiore. They were all very powerful, even to the level of being deadly, and Heidi had merely seen Lucy as the newbie that did not know her place. She wielded such great control over her abilities, in contrast to a rookie like Lucy, and the blonde girl sighed a bit while she looked pretty miffed about how that battle went down.

Since this was a day of fun, Lucy and Sting had both found it pretty necessary to really not emphasize the wide difference in skills that put Heidi many levels above them. Lucy did not even want to use her Plant Demon Slayer Magic in that fight, since she could visualize Heidi using lightning to fry her every move, and Rufus had been calm while telling her that Lavana's crew did tend to go after people that messed with them. To put it simply, they could possibly be attacked by Heidi as payback for the fact that they had started a fight with her. Lucy and Sting really tempted fate by saying that all they wanted to do was have fun, since they ran into a pretty powerful demon slayer in the process, so they really did not expect the unexpected. Even if they did have a fully fun day, what if something bad happened somewhere else?

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, in Lucy's old apartment...<strong>

Natsu had sniffed out the trail of his blue Exceed to the old home of his ex-girlfriend while Lisanna would wait at the guild, as he was intent on finding out where Happy had gone to, and the fire dragon slayer was currently in the kitchen that once belonged to Lucy. He tried to find clues about why Happy would be here, even though there was no real evidence of his friend being in this place, and Natsu took notice of a blue vase that was broken on the floor. It was in many pieces, mostly because of the fact that Lucy threw it at the wall out of pure anger, and that transpired all the way back on the day that she found out about Natsu's cheating ways.

The ironic twist with that vase, though, was that it was a lovely gift that Natsu had bought for her. He comically broke into her house one day to simply put that vase on the table, being really happy about the fact that she liked it, and that was when they were a happy couple. Last year was the final year where they had been a happy couple, before he had chosen to be such a deceitful user, and Natsu seemed a bit curious as to why he seemed to care for that broken vase. It was just something that he could replace or throw away easily, just like how he had thrown away a sweet girl like Lucy to be with Lisanna. Symbolism was a powerful thing in romance, you know.

As he left the kitchen to go check out her living room, looking for any signs of Happy being here while the scents of Wendy and Carla were also in Lucy's apartment, Natsu found a picture frame lying face-down on the coffee table. He knew that was the picture of when him and Lucy had shared a kiss on the park bench, as Mira had taken that picture of them last year, and making the photo be down against the table meant that Lucy did not want to see it anymore. She could no longer share kisses with a guy who had been such a rude jerk, especially because of how he told almost everyone in Fairy Tail to keep quiet about his affair, and Natsu really liked that picture.

Natsu did not like the fact that Lucy was dating Sting now, the guy who was his biggest rival, and the pink-haired male also could not see why Lucy would be with the guy that laughed at her getting tortured in the Naval Battle by Minerva. Even though that was a past incident, Natsu really thought that there was no way for a guy like Sting to ever be nice. Well, wasn't he one to talk? Natsu wasn't exactly nice to Lucy at all, since it was like she gave him so much of her love and kindness from her heart, and he just didn't really care about how he had hurt her in such a harsh way by being a total two-timer. Besides, was Lisanna really even that great of a woman?

It was pretty clear that there was a bit of confusion with Natsu, even though he did not realize the fact that disliking Lucy's new relationship would make his own emotions implode, and it really made no sense to feel any negative emotions towards the fact that she moved on while he was with Lisanna. Natsu had a pretty good relationship, so what sense did it make for him to get into Lucy's business? She wanted nothing to do with him, since he had cheated on her, and Natsu did not even know that he would manage to get on Lisanna's nerves by making so many jokes about Lucy or even bringing up the name of his ex. Who would enjoy speaking about an ex, anyway?

He asked aloud while looking a bit puzzled at the sight of an unopened envelope that was on Lucy's brown desk, "What the heck is this envelope that Luce made, and why would she not open it? Is this her original entry form for that contest, or is it something else that she forgot to send in the mail?

Even though it was quite rude to open the mail that someone else was going to send or receive, Natsu did not really care. Lucy also didn't live here anymore, anyway, so there would be no one around to scold him about it. When Natsu had torn open the envelope, finding a neatly folded letter inside of it, he quickly unfolded this letter to at least see what it would be. The contents of it had made the fiery guy widen his eyes in shock, as this note had been addressed to him, and Natsu sat down in the chair situated by the desk to read what Lucy wanted to tell him. Based on how he had broken her heart in the worst way, this was about to be quite a verbal thrashing.

_"Natsu, you are deceitful and horrible. I was so very good to you in our relationship, giving you my love while thinking that you could make me happy, but all that you did to me was lie. You cheated on me, you schemed out a plan to have an affair with Lisanna while thinking that I would never know about it, but I saw you two share that kiss in the guild. You even duped me at times by making me feel so important, but I never mattered to you. Even when we were together, I must've been a pawn to you. This is goodbye, Natsu, and last year meant nothing." _Natsu read in a calm tone, before looking more and more shocked with every word that was on the paper.

He stared out into space for a moment, remembering all the love that he shared with Lucy in the year of X791, and the month before he had cheated on her was where Natsu got most of the jokes from. That was the month when they first became a couple, when things were so good, but now that love was torn into pieces because of Natsu being so devious. He had not even tried to catch up with Lucy when she had entered the guild, not even wanting to at least ask about how she was enjoying her time at the resort, and reading that letter in Lucy's sweet voice where remembering her cute smile had really made the realization of Gray's scolding strike him like a ton of bricks.

Natsu was a real buffoon, since he had hurt someone who was nothing but nice to him, and there was nothing that could really be done about it. Lucy was the victim of Natsu's selfish desire to be with Lisanna, never wanting to even be cheated on, and just being in her old home caused the fire dragon slayer to remember her sweet scent of strawberries. Lucy had smelled so very sweet, just like Lisanna, and Natsu had pushed her into the arms of his rival. Whether Natsu would ever interpret his one good action to be good for Lucy or bad for Lisanna, a few tears fell from his eyes as his mind realized that it had not been fully active on that night he wrote Lucy's name on the envelope with feelings from his heart to give her that great trip to the resort.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 13? Did you like it? Sorry if it wasn't fun enough because of the fight with Heidi, but I wanted Lucy to have a first loss in this story to not make it seem like she'd win every time. There will be a lot more StiCy moments in the next chapter, though, as some comedy is involved while a few days go by. There will also be some more NaLu and NaLi moments, but what's coming up next? Standby for the update! <strong>


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Lucy's Little Filler, Lavana's Fierce Fire<strong>

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><p>An entire day had passed by, ever since Lucy was reunited with Wendy and the rest of her good friends, and the brown-eyed girl was currently having breakfast with the young sky dragon slayer in the food court that was on the third floor of the Sabertooth guild. Yukino and Shelly were also at the table on this fine morning, with the latter really getting to talk with Wendy because of the fact that she and Rogue had to be out on an urgent job in Haruba Town, but the person who would really have the most to talk about would have to be Lucy. Not only did she need to ask Shelly if her job went well, but the black-haired woman would also need to hear that Lucy and Sting had ran into Heidi.<p>

The Lightning Demon Slayer had really laid a beating on Lucy, taking on all of her spells like the entire fight was mere child's play, and Heidi also took down Sting with ease. Both of the mages from Sabertooth were pretty lucky that Heidi spared them from meeting an early death, since it seemed like she wanted to take on Lucy when they were both at similar levels of strength, and that one loss had really made Lucy get to see that the demon slayers did not mess around at all. Watching Shelly fight Skyla while helping out in a supporting role was one thing, but actually taking on one of the demon slayers would really make the fight have quite a high level of difficulty. That fight was brutal, right?

Lucy felt slightly down while having to tell Shelly about how Heidi trounced her and Sting so badly while that electricity was used with such a great amount of control, and they didn't really think about the smart idea of leading the blonde woman out of Glitz Town. That could've easily stopped her from making her electricity cause havoc to the rides in the amusement park while it would've also kept Heidi from taking in any electrical energy to get more power. Lucy felt bad about the fact that a simple solution was close by, yet neither her or Sting had even been able to see it. Perhaps they were so focused on having fun, that they couldn't tell Heidi to just get out of the town.

Yukino was pretty amazed to hear that Lucy took on the woman who was rumored to be the third-strongest demon slayer in Fiore, since they had a wide margin of power between them, and many people had thought that Desertia or Lavana were the only two people capable of dealing with the woman known as the vixen of lightning. With a calm look in her brown eyes while she smiled a bit, Yukino let Lucy know that this one loss was nothing to really be upset over. The outcome had been pretty clear from the start of the match, since Lucy was still just a rookie while Heidi was a total expert, and the blonde mage really did seem down about that loss. After all, it was a total mismatch.

While all four of the girls had been eating plates of chocolate brownies, most likely to celebrate the fact that Lucy reunited with Wendy, the blonde girl looked disappointed while she could guess that Shelly would scold her for being soft enough to follow Sting's direct approach to people. Shelly also might tell Lucy that it was a bad move to go after a member from Lavana's crew, since Lucy could possibly now have a target on her back, and that would mean that she may be the next demon slayer to bite the dust. Lavana did have a sadistic habit of effacing any threats that were seen as a bother to her crew, you know, and she could kill Lucy with a single ball of fire.

"Well, Lucy, it's not your fault that Heidi was causing trouble. She is one of the most powerful demon slayers, just like me, and her electric abilities really can cause many problems. I'm not really that shocked to see that you lost against her, and the outcome might've been the same in any other place. Even if you led her outside of Glitz Town, your plants aren't strong enough to deal with Heidi's lightning. She can anticipate moves before they are made, and that girl even managed to break through my strongest ice attacks last year. You won't have to worry about being a target, though, since Heidi must see you as a mere fly." Shelly told Lucy in a kind tone while smiling, even if the last part of her speech didn't seem so kind.

As Lucy smiled a bit from hearing Shelly's kind words, Yukino added while talking in a comforting manner, "You did not win the battle, Lucy-sama, but you are still dating Sting. He must not be all that mad about the loss, since I saw him grinning early at dawn in the guildhall while he was talking to Lector, and one loss will not change how he feels about you. It seemed that there was some tension yesterday in your love, almost like you two were struggling to make one decision, so the intensity must be loosened by doing something great with him. Maybe you two could have a full day of fun again, if he has no plans to go out on any jobs today, and you should give him some love."

Lucy blushed a light shade of pink from hearing her friend suggest that she should give more love to Sting, mainly since kisses were not the only way to show love, and it was quite possible that Yukino just gave Lucy the best advice that anyone could ever get. After all, the white dragon slayer had been the one making all of the moves by choosing certain jobs and mostly making the best plans for how the fights would go down. Lucy had been following his strategies, most of the time, but they did not exactly have a plan for dealing with Heidi. If they had made some kind of great plan to beat her, then the situation would not have been so very hard to handle. Didn't plans solve everything?

Lucy and Sting had both liked to take charge, always using their joys of love to be there for each other, but one of them would always take the lead while the other one would back them up. That's how they worked well in battles, but was their love working in a good manner as well? Lucy sighed a bit while she felt like her romance with Sting was still so very friendly, not really going anywhere, but she could change that. Just like how Sting had his ways to charm Lucy and make her blush happily, she could do the same thing to him. After all, Lucy did not want this love to end up going badly like how her previous relationship with that chump Natsu ended up being a waste of time.

Their love had to be reciprocal, meaning that Lucy could make a few flirty moves on Sting, and the Celestial Spirit Wizard knew that she could make her boyfriend be wooed enough into taking her out on another date or something. She was very pretty and kind, as well as being smart, and Lucy just had to stop having worries about the next moves that she'd make. Nobody was ever perfect, since a jerk like Natsu was the perfect example of that, so Lucy just had to make sure that none of her moves would make Sting feel turned off. She did not want him to feel bored with her, like how Natsu had been selfish enough to do, and Lucy hoped that this relationship would keep getting good.

As she went out of her thoughts to ask her friends for some more advice on what would be a good move, Lucy looked a bit curious to hear Shelly speak about the tough job that went on in Haruba Town. The blue-eyed woman had gone out on that job with Rogue, both of them being forced to deal with the sunlight's harsh amount of heat while they had to walk on the hot sand, and Shelly ended up sweating profusely. She had surprised Rogue by stripping down to her lacy white bra and lacy white panties, before they were required to enter the vast desert that extended onward from the path leading out of the town, and the black-haired woman really hated that mission.

Lucy widened her brown eyes in shock, as she listened to Shelly speak of the fact that a place known as the Haruba Temple had a strange amount of magical power inside of it, and the blonde girl was surprised to hear that the sandstorms were very explosive. It had almost seemed like someone did not want Shelly to cross through the desert, since all of the hot sand had been sent her way, and the Water Demon Slayer could guess that it was Desertia. Since there was no need to fight, as Shelly knew that an Earth Demon Slayer had full control of a desert field with no water around while the heat would also melt the ice, Shelly had fled with Rogue to get back to the guild of Sabertooth.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Erza had finally gotten her armors and weapons back to a full state of repair, after they had been so badly damaged by the fiery flames from Lavana, and the scarlet-haired woman was sitting alone at the bar while Mira made a slice of strawberry cake for her to eat. Erza looked pretty calm while she could hear that the members in the guildhall were having their own conversations about all kinds of topics, some people even speaking about how she finally got back to being the true Titania of terror, and she could even hear Makarov laughing in a confident manner about how the Grand Magic Games were going to be coming up once again. Wow, now wouldn't that be tons of fun?

As Erza knew that she would be getting picked to be on one of the teams, possibly being on the same team as Natsu and Gray to keep them from fighting, she could guess that Lisanna and Wendy would be on that team as well. The five of them would make quite a good team, especially since Wendy could heal everyone while Lisanna and Erza could help Natsu and Gray beat down people in the survival tournament, but it certainly was a relief for Erza to know that Minerva would not be competing in this year's tournament. She had been missing for over one year now, ever since the sadistic woman had been defeated by Erza on the final day, and her father was said to be dead now.

That last part did sound pretty dark, but let's just say that it was a job that Sting put up on the request board. He never wanted to cross paths with the former master of Sabertooth ever again, since he almost killed Lector last year, and a certain black-haired woman actually had no idea of who Jiemma even was. She had actually found him in Lavender Town, a very eerie town where the Darkness Demon Slayer resided, and Shelly simply killed Minerva's father in a quick manner with a large icicle being slammed straight into his chest. She did not want to trouble her friend, who was in the tower of ghostly souls, and Shelly simply thought of it as any other mission involving an outlaw or thief.

Erza had not known about any of that transpiring, but she did know that Lucy was now in the guild of Sabertooth. That would make her be an enemy to Fairy Tail, even though she had already made enemies with Natsu's alliance that used to be pretty big, and Erza would truly have to fight hard against her former friend. She still thought that Natsu and Lisanna were a cute couple, despite the fact that people began to hate them for how they treated Lucy, and Erza could not really fathom how the guild members had made such a sudden flip to be against the people who needed their help for a party that would celebrate their year-long anniversary. Really, when did this flip take place?

It actually took place on the day that Lucy left the Fairy Tail guild while she had beaten down Natsu, and most of the people were pretty upset to see her go. Some people like Juvia and Gray were not too amazed that Lucy would flip to Sabertooth, since Natsu pretty much burnt her heart to a crisp, and the Rain Woman helped her precious ice mage stop Natsu's alliance from hating on Lucy by giving them most of her fancy prizes from the drawing that occurred a few weeks ago. She also talked to them about how Lucy was a very nice person, which was true, and Gajeel ended up forcing some people to be on their side. As Erza could not really see why Gray's plan was so good, Mira spoke up.

The white-haired woman told Erza in a kind tone, smiling happily as she set the plate of strawberry cake down on the counter, "I'm so excited that the Grand Magic Games will be happening again, and Fairy Tail might end up winning. I hope that there won't be as much drama as there was last year, especially since Lucy is no longer in our guild, and it'll be kinda nice to see her again. Lucy's new powers with plants were very strange to see, but she did say something about being a Plant Demon Slayer. Maybe she might even be able to beat you and me in a battle, Erza, and that would be a pretty wild thing for everyone in the arena to witness. It might even be in the newspaper too."

Erza replied in a stern tone while she narrowed her brown eyes at Mirajane, not really seeing Lucy to be that strong, "Quit acting like she is a Wizard Saint that just became famous, Mira! Just because Lucy came into the guild and had one big battle against some of the people in Fairy Tail, that does not mean that she is a tough person to beat. She just beat Natsu because none of us were prepared for that new magic that she brought out on us, so that is nothing more than a lucky victory. If I had been able to conjure up many swords on that day, I can firmly assure you that those plants would've been sliced down with ease. Slicing through a beam of energy is easy, too."

Mira sighed a bit from hearing that Erza was being pretty cocky, acting like she was some kind of god because of the fact that she almost never lost, and the scarlet-haired woman had also been thinking that it would be easy to win while wearing her Nakagami Armor. That was honestly one of the cheapest ways to win a battle, since it could help Erza bend the laws of magic while making her be invincible as well, and Mira really thought that the battle with Minerva had not really been that difficult. All that Erza really needed was the power of wanting to save her friends, even though she would be arrogant about taking on Lucy's new plant powers. (Do you like how I made fun of the way that Hiro Mashima made Erza win that battle?)

It wasn't really common for anyone to run into a demon slayer, since Erza did not know that Lavana could be labeled as the brutal woman from the fiery depths of hell, and the fact that Erza had such a big loss was something that Mira could giggle about. Even though she liked seeing Lisanna be by Natsu's side, Gray's words to the fire dragon slayer had really given Mira some things to think about. She did not like to see any drama going on, since Natsu almost killed Lucy by trying to burn her alive, and the fact that Natsu covered his ex in alcohol before setting her aflame was pretty harsh. It was never good to kill an ex, even if the tension was heavy like a fortress of steel.

The Fairy Tail guild had actually been split into two alliances, as Erza and Cana decided to side with Natsu and Lisanna while Gajeel and Laxus surprisingly chose to side with Gray and Juvia. Wendy would clearly have to be in the middle of this, as Cana and Juvia would try to make her choose a side in the feud that concerned Lucy, but Mira did not even know that the young sky dragon slayer was over at Sabertooth with Lucy. Wendy was still part of Fairy Tail, but she was not really around that much to experience all of the drama. It was never good to put pressure on anybody, since dividing the guild into two alliances was going to be quite an implosive move in the Grand Magic Games.

Mira also knew that things were going to be bad, since the best mages in this guild were mostly at war with each other, and it would be really bad for Natsu to be on a team with Gray. Even if Erza could threaten them both, Gray would simply laugh at the sight of Lucy taking down Erza. It was pretty obvious that one team would be pretty cohesive while the other would just have people getting on each other's nerves, which would just cause problems if the teams had to merge like they did last year, and Fairy Tail had really made a bad move by losing Lucy. Natsu had no control over the future, even if he did selfishly scheme to enjoy his romantic affair, but his past actions were leading up to a possible train wreck.

Speaking of Natsu, Mira had a curious look on her face while she saw Happy fly through Fairy Tail's entrance doors. The blue Exceed had been gone for most of the previous day, not even hanging out with Natsu and Lisanna, so where had he been? Happy seemed to be pretty cheerful about something, possibly the fact that he got to see that Lucy was doing okay, and he would not tell anyone about what Sabertooth would be doing. Of course, he would actually be letting her know about things like who would be on the teams that were going to represent Fairy Tail in the Grand Magic Games. That would be a nice way of helping her out, since Lucy had always been nice to Happy.

* * *

><p><strong>On the resort's beach...<strong>

After she finished up her breakfast for the day, as well as now having a few ways to get flirty with Sting, Lucy went down to the beach in an attempt to have a few moments of peace. She had been wearing a red T-shirt with a black skirt earlier, not wearing any shoes because of the fact that the floor in the guild was always clean, and Lucy had taken off her clothes in the dorm room that she stayed in. After stripping down to where she was wearing nothing at all, the blonde girl put on one of her favorite bikinis. Lucy knew that her beauty could impress Sting, as well as her high amount of intellect, and he had also loved the fact that she was becoming stronger with each passing day.

Lucy laid down on the hot golden sand, lying down on her stomach while she totally looked cute with her beautiful blonde hair tied into two pigtails, and she sighed happily while feeling the ocean's breeze give soft kisses to her body. Lucy also wore an orange tiger print bikini, looking pretty sexy right now, and she looked a bit curious while feeling the need to wonder if Sting would ever take her to the Haruba Desert. Shelly had stated that it was really hot in that area, even to the point where the hot sand would not cool down from feeling the effects of her Water Demon Slayer Magic, and all that could really be done was to stay in the town. Desert sand could be a real pain, you know.

It also seemed a bit weird that Desertia, the Earth Demon Slayer, would want to keep her black-haired enemy away from the temple. Well, it was not really surprising that many people knew of Shelly's habit for wanting treasure. There were other people that desired some of the precious loot in Fiore as well, really hoping that they would not miss out on the rare chances of getting rich, but Shelly had been greedy and sneaky enough to take what she loved. She was even infamous for buying out an entire candy store, which made her very happy while Sting found it to just be a way of getting free treats, and Lucy was glad that there were such good people in Sabertooth.

Speaking of Sting, Lucy stood up for a moment to see that the blue-eyed male and Lector had been sitting in two beach chairs while they were drinking down two bottles of Coca-Cola. The blonde girl did not take notice of the fact that they set up their spot for relaxing while she was lost in her thoughts for those few minutes, and Lucy giggled a bit while the white dragon slayer smiled at her current attire. He loved to see Lucy looking attractive, as she had always been, and Sting was glad to see that his sweet girlfriend also felt like it was a great day to be relaxing out on the beach. Both of them felt affected by that fatal loss against Heidi, so this was a good way for them to bond.

Lector was helping his best friend deal with the loss against Heidi, letting him know that he learned many things from the fight, and there was nothing wrong with failing. People could get stronger by losing, getting to see their own weak points that they need to work on, and Sting felt like this loss came with less pressure. He had helped Rogue fight against Natsu and Gajeel in the tag-team battle last year, not wanting to lose because of the fact that Jiemma might've killed him, and that fight was utterly humiliating. At least Heidi did not need a stupid amount of friendship power to show off her best skills, since her Lightning Demon Slayer Magic was very fearsome by itself.

"Hey, Lucy. You look really hot today, and it's not because of the fact that we're both on the hot beach. I've been thinking about how we both got creamed by Heidi in such an uncool way, getting shocked by her electric moves, and I don't need a lecture. Shelly already gave me a stern speech for trying to show off and look good against a tough demon slayer, and she gave me a hit to the head while calling me a total idiot. If I had just led Heidi away from Glitz Town, then you could've used your plants to choke the life out of her. Lucy, I'm really sorry if that loss crippled your confidence." Sting told his girlfriend while he looked apologetic, taking full blame for the huge loss.

Lucy replied in a kind and happy manner, after giving Sting a soft kiss on the lips, "It really made me question if I was really worthy of using the Wind Demon Slayer Magic, since it didn't exactly work so well against Heidi, and it was stupid to use new magic against her without really having much control over it. Maybe my plants would've been much more useful, if the situation had been different, but we can't keep sulking over the past. Sting, I love being around a sweet and sexy guy like you. You always impress me, making me love how you try to show off, and maybe our love just needs to reach another step. Kissing may not be enough, so we must find the next bridge to cross on our path to a perfect love."

Receiving that kiss from Lucy caused Sting to have a happy smile on his face, making him glad that she was by his side, and the cute giggle that escaped from her lips had made Sting blush a light shade of pink. He had never known that his cute lover could get flirty, even though this was not really like a date, and Sting got up from his chair to be pretty close to Lucy. She even jumped into Sting's arms while he had been walking over to her, making him feel happy that she could be very flirty at times, and Lucy's blonde hair looked so cute while it had been in two pigtails. She was so great with making people feel better, and this bad situation really did have a bright side to it.

Lucy could get stronger, even able to make her spells be enhanced, and she began to see that any demon slayer could not just be powerful. They had to work hard, strengthening up their spells while using chain moves would help most of the attacks become much stronger, and the spells were not just created in the mind. They had to be specific while Lucy had to believe in herself, letting her mind and spirit know that she could keep Sting from always having to protect her. He could become much more powerful as well, since a dragon slayer did not have to wait for moves to appear, and Sting just needed to make some new spells with awesome effects.

This was a nice day for a break from battles, since the previous day was pretty chaotic while the amusement park was also a good place for fun, and Lucy felt glad that she could relax with her friends. Lector had even made Lucy look a bit freaked out by telling her that he took a few pictures of the blonde girl being in a white towel after she stepped out of the shower, causing the brown-eyed girl to blush intensely from the fact that she was secretly being filmed by her boyfriend's red Exceed, and she was kindly assured that only Sting would see those nice pics. He would never show them to anybody, since Lucy had great beauty that could not be rivaled by any other girl in the world.

It was pretty funny that Sting kept the pics of Lucy in his desk as well, not even putting them somewhere that would be much safer, but it's not like anyone would pay money to see photos of a girl in a towel. Mirajane Strauss and Jenny Realight were in magazines, due to them being in sexy bikinis, and they were also known for being very famous models. Jenny was said to be finishing a fashion tour in the far-off land of Kalos, the place that had been known for its great beauty, and the timing of her tour's end could not be more perfect. Sting assumed that Lucy did not remember about what was coming up pretty soon, and this would be the biggest event in all of Fiore.

The Grand Magic Games were going to take place soon, as they had come around once again, and Sting was hoping that Sabertooth could be the best guild in the entire country of Fiore. He did not plan to surrender in a fight against any of the people who treated his girlfriend so badly, not even fearing the wrath of mages like Erza or Laxus, and the white dragon slayer was going to truly show everyone in the tournament that he was truly one of the strongest guild masters that ever lived. Sting did not even care if there would be a team of demon slayers competing, since he would now be smart enough to help Lucy beat down all of them. Dragon versus demon would be cool, right?

* * *

><p><strong>At the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

While Erza and Mira were talking about Lucy, Gray sat down at a table with Juvia on this fine day. The black-haired male was pretty glad that his friend had assisted him in making some of the people from Natsu's alliance begin to turn on him, as Levy and Evergreen were disliking the fire dragon slayer for how he had tried to kill Lucy, and there were not exactly many friends for Natsu to have. Not only was he perceived as a horrible person for how he burned Lucy alive, which was really taking that fight to an extreme level of sadistic revenge, but Natsu was also seen as a bad person for the way that he treated Lucy. Really, why should that cheating jerk get any kind of respect?

Gray looked pretty happy about the fact that the pink-haired male was getting the huge amount of bad karma that he deserved, which was coupled with the fact that he made a really bad move by sending Lucy all the way to a luxurious resort that doubled as the guild of Sabertooth, so Natsu really would be forced to watch his ex share happy kisses with Sting while she would also be getting to have a nice amount of fun in the Grand Magic Games. Gray was also hoping that he would get to have a friendly battle against Lucy, only for the sake of them both having some fun while the ice mage would get to see how far the blonde girl had gone with her new skills.

It was pretty true and logical that ice could beat plants, since freezing them was the simplest way to stop Lucy from being able to attack, but the moves of the Celestial Spirit Wizard were quite explosive. After all, no one thought that she could make seeds have such great power. Lucy could even make trees rise up from the ground, mainly to use them as shields, and the trees would explode in large pale green blasts of energy that could help Lucy distract her foes. Her grassy spells even beat the flames of Natsu, which really showed anyone that a type disadvantage meant nothing in a battle. Strategy was the key, and that is why Lucy could be pretty smart.

Even though Gray now knew that his friend was a Plant Demon Slayer, he looked curious about the fact that Juvia was reading a book about them. She was no longer against Lucy, since the blonde mage now found love with the great Sting Eucliffe, and the blue-haired woman had a happy smile on her face while getting to know more about this third type of slayers that recently sprang up into Fiore. There were rumors of them being around, despite the fact that no one in the town of Magnolia ever saw a single demon slayer, and Gray was pretty amazed that Lucy became one of them. Her skin did not turn green like a plant, though, which was a pretty good thing.

There were quite a few lists and pictures in the brown book that Juvia was looking at, as she sat next to Gray while blushing a light shade of pink from how he was so very close to her, and her blue eyes looked a bit curious about the fact that the book told her about a legendary Fire Demon Slayer named Lavana. Apparently, anyone who had encountered this woman would never ever get to exist for another day. It seemed like she was just another villain, but the book let Juvia and Gray know that the apprentice of any elemental demon could get pretty violent if they took in too much energy from the type of magic that they wielded. Still, who would care about Lavana's life?

Gray read aloud in an amazed manner, seeming really shocked by the list that he saw for what seemed to be the current stats of Lavana, "The Fire Demon Slayer known as Lavana Kasai has been able to complete tons of jobs in the past year, with all of them being missions that involved taking out some of the toughest dark mages that Fiore had ever seen, and she has a very high Attack stat for her fiery flames. Her Defense and Special Defense stats are quite good as well, being on par with her high amount of stamina, and Lavana's Speed stat is also amazing. Her Special Attack stat is where her second type of magic will shine, and she also never got one wound on her body."

Juvia replied in a curious tone, reading the rest of Lavana's dark and deadly description, "The lovely Lavana is quite fierce in a fight, as she does not like to be disturbed by anyone that tries to steal her treasure, and anyone that tried to oppose her was killed. She even took on the Cinnabar Guild all by herself, and she won easily without taking a single blow from any of the members. Lavana is not a dark mage, despite how evil she may be, and the Magic Council has never been able to really find her because she prefers to stay in various hot places at different times. She has the flames to even overpower Natsu Dragneel, and her demon sisters must all see her as their evil queen."

Upon hearing the last part of what Juvia just said, Gray could only look more shocked at the fact that this girl named Lavana wanted the other demons to see her as their queen. She possibly could not be in control of how the other demons perceived her to be, since they all did have minds of their own, but it was just so weird how Lavana came out of nowhere to suddenly be some famed Fire Demon Slayer that had even gotten a book written about her by Heidi Rakurai. The book did not have any info about Lucy yet, since the latest volume had not been made yet, but Gray found this whole thing to really just be far too strange. After all, how can fame occur so very quickly?

The year before this one had been X791, which was the same year where Fairy Tail went through many adventures that were pretty dramatic, and no one named Lavana was so famous. She was not around for last year's Grand Magic Games, which were filled with drama, but how could a guild like Sabertooth not even know that demon slayers were on their side of Fiore? It was quite possible that the third type of slayers were still being trained by the demons around that time, with the exception of Lucy, but this was just too weird. Gray could think positive things about his friend Lucy, but Lavana was really being a complex mystery that left more questions than answers.

* * *

><p><strong>How was Chapter 14? Did you like it? I apologize for how this was so short, but it's more like a semi-filler chapter that just gives all of the characters a bit of a break from their usual actions. The StiCy will be focused on in the next chapter, as will the pairing of NaLu, but I heard something interesting. Apparently, one of my readers suggests the theory of Lavana being the "missing" Minerva. Wouldn't that be kinda weird? Standby for the update, and any kind of criticism is really appreciated. <strong>


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Treasures and Temptations: The Shifting Sand <strong>

* * *

><p>An entire week had passed since Lucy and Sting went up against Heidi in a shocking battle that transpired in the amusement park, and the two blondes were currently checking out the jobs on Sabertooth's golden request board. They were looking for a pretty good job that they could do today, not too hard or too difficult, and Sting felt really confident right now. He had been working with Lucy all week to get her Wind Demon Slayer Magic to be really impressive like the Plant Demon Slayer Magic that she wielded, and her attacks had been getting stronger. Lucy's winds could now take her high up into the air for her to fly, which would let the blonde girl now have some aerial aces to create.<p>

Lucy also realized that she could consume wind like Wendy and Chelia were able to do, but she was not a dragon slayer or a god slayer. Being a demon slayer really did end up making her have the strangest abilities that she had ever seen, and the spells were even weirder at times. Despite her moves being weird, though, Lucy had figured out that she just needed to inhale wind before using a move. This way, by properly concentrating her Wind Demon Slayer Magic into her moves, they could be used with much more speed and power in them. That certainly would've been useful info to know back in the fight against Heidi, right?

She smiled happily at Sting while they kept looking at the request board, wanting to find what would hopefully be a good job, and the white dragon slayer had excitement in his blue eyes from seeing one request that really stood out from the others. Lucy wondered what kind of job she would be handling with Sting, hoping that it was something that could make her wind continue soaring into new heights, and she also hoped that this job would not end up containing any deadly electricity or any toxic vixens that would try getting flirty with Sting. After all, Lucy and Sting could only have a long love if they still had life in their bodies.

Sting told Lucy that this job was actually far from Cerulean Town, as well as this being the first time that Lucy would deal with climate change as a member of Sabertooth, and Sting smirked arrogantly when he told her that this would be the best place for her to try and test out any new skills that she wielded. Lucy looked a bit curious when she heard those words come out of her companion's mouth, and he let her know that this place would be known as the Haruba Desert. It was a pretty sandy place with sandstorms around, from what Sting had once told her, and it was the same area that Shelly once visited with Rogue.

The brown-eyed girl wondered what Sting could be thinking as he smiled, and Lucy peeked over at the flyer to see that they now had the job of checking out something weird in the desert. Many treasure hunters could not even get near the ruins, due to the fact that one of them even talked to the media about being hit with rocks that created energy blasts, and the heat from the desert did not make things seem any better. The sandstorms also proved to truly be trouble, but they did not seem to occur naturally. Shelly had mentioned that there was a dark mage out to get her, with the added difficulty of this woman also being a demon slayer, but could Lucy take care of this?

She didn't want to doubt her abilities, but she knew very well that her first four spells of Wind Demon Slayer Magic weren't exactly up to par with a Wizard Saint or anyone near that level. After all, she had only improved them after one week. That certainly wasn't enough time to really get them up to a pretty high level, but Lucy also widened her cocoa brown eyes when she also realized that doubting herself was not the actual way to get things done. She wanted to become stronger than she was in Fairy Tail, desiring to become much stronger, and she had gotten out of tight spots before. Really, who could forget how she beat up Natsu?

As she was trying to create some new spells that could be used on this job, Lucy also thought back to how she could be more flirty with Sting. He was always the one that tried to impress her with his great skills, liking every single chance to show off how he was the best dragon slayer in Fiore, but now the time had arrived for Sting's girlfriend to take charge. With some new things that she had recently learned as well, the blonde girl was about to show her charming boyfriend that she could be an aerial goddess who could take battles to high altitudes for great wins in the lovely blue skies. Could her winds create some wins?

"Lucy-chan, you have some very nice wind powers! It is so very good that you can fly like me now, with the only real difference being that you lack wings, and flying to the Haruba Desert with Sting-kun would make your love grow even more! He is not really such a heavy person to carry, but we all know that Sting-kun would love to be in the air while you'd get to feel his great muscles." Lector told Lucy in a confident tone while he smirked at Sting, standing on the table that was beside his friends, as the red Exceed heard Lucy tell him to be quiet while she blushed a light shade of pink from the thought of feeling Sting's muscles.

Sting chuckled a bit from seeing Lucy blush at him and Lector, since she really loved to be hugging and kissing her smart boyfriend, and the blue-eyed male really saw no issue with the fact that either Lucy or Lector could carry him all the way to the Haruba Desert. Flying there was much better than having to walk all the way to Haruba Town, since the route on foot could even prove to be quite arduous for Laxus or Jura, and let's just say that Sting had confidence in his blue eyes while he hoped that Lucy made a spell for some wind to blow them all the way into the desert. Of course, landing on hot sand would hurt worse than being clumsy enough to touch the sea in Lethal Lava Land. (Nice reference to Super Mario 64, am I right?)

Lucy looked back at the flyer that Sting was holding in his left hand, and she noticed that the reward for stopping the desert's problem would be 790,000 jewels. This person did not have that high of a bounty on their head, but they were possibly going to be pretty powerful. Lucy could not be scared now when Sting was beside her, wanting to do her absolute best for him, and the fact that their next opponent was stronger than Shelly did not really matter to Sting. Lucy began to think that it didn't matter that much as well, especially since this next demon slayer and Heidi were Lavana's partners. They were strong, but not as great as Lavana.

Lector had also decided to join them while he flew to the top of Sting's head, knowing that his friend would definitely get the job done, and Lucy seemed happy to have another member on the job. Wendy had already gone out on a job with Yukino and Rogue, not able to accompany Lucy and Sting right now, and Orga had also gone out on a job with Rufus. When Sting and Lector ran from Sabertooth's entrance doors, Lucy knew that she had to bring out the full power of her winds. Sting believed in her, and she began to look fierce while having confidence in her magic. As she ran after the duo, though, Lucy seemed to have a few curious thoughts about where Shelly could be right now.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

While Lucy would be going out on a job to the hot and sandy desert, only worried about the fact that she would probably get sand in her mouth from tripping over a rock, let's just say that a certain fire dragon slayer was having some little regrets about the way that he hurt her. It was true that the past could not be fixed, even if Ultear could correctly use the Last Aegis spell to turn back time for Natsu to stop himself from cheating on Lucy, and the pink-haired male was starting to gain some feelings of guilt as well. Even though he just wanted to be with Lisanna, making a big scheme to deceive Lucy was not the right way to go about it. Really, why did Natsu have to be so dumb?

Natsu's mind had been intent to love Lisanna, really liking the pretty girl with a somewhat sour attitude of jealousy under all of the sweetness that she would display, and going back to an ex while being with a new lover would mean that Natsu was trying to get a second shot at cheating. He did not want Lisanna to think badly of him, since she was a very good girlfriend, and Natsu knew that he had to figure this out. Sending Lucy away on a trip to Sting's fabulous resort was a mistake that really showed its high amount of consequences for Natsu, even though he never intended on seeing Lucy get the grand prize, and the fiery guy began to put his hands on his head while groaning.

He began to bang his head on the wooden table, really feeling miffed by how thoughts of Lucy were making their way into his mind, and Natsu could remember some cute moments that he shared with Lucy. On the same day that Minerva had nearly killed her in the Naval Battle last year, Natsu spent the entire night by Lucy's bed side. He kept hoping that she would be okay, never wanting her to go through such a cruel event ever again, and Natsu swore that he'd never let anyone hurt Lucy from that point on. Well, it was pretty hypocritical of him to have tried killing her with his own heated flames. Their love burnt down to the ground, leaving only the flames of hurtful lies that Natsu had told to Lucy.

Those vicious flames nearly killed her, after Natsu tried to destroy her in a fierce battle, and the fire dragon slayer could only shiver a bit while he looked shocked at the thought of truly having the blood of Lucy on his hands. Did Natsu really love Lisanna enough to the point where he forgot the day that Lucy made a nice bowl of soup for him to be cheered up from losing to Erza, or was Natsu just plain cruel to Lucy? Just because he was experiencing the feeling of guilt that would hit anyone in the chest with the force of many anvils, that did not exactly call for a total change of heart. Besides, even if Natsu began to realize his love for Lucy, the timing was really too late.

Unlike the great situation of Lucy winning a grand trip to the luxurious resort that was in the town of Cerulean, as fate made the timing be almost too perfect for her heart to get the healing that it needed to receive, Natsu and timing were two things that really didn't agree. His choices could be seen as nothing more than being careless, not even using his nose to sniff out Lucy's scent on the day where she eavesdropped on him and Lisanna talking about ousting her from the team, so many people did not see Natsu as a loyal friend anymore. As he had been thinking aloud about his heart's small love for Lucy clashing his mind's major love for Lisanna, a certain person approached him from behind.

"You need to learn how to calm yourself, Natsu! It is not right for you to be thinking about Lucy, especially since your loyalty lies with Lisanna, and you've got one of the best girlfriends in the entire world! Lisanna is smart and beautiful, really kind and loving towards you, so don't even try to flip on her. Besides, we all know that Lucy has moved on to Sting now. She has shown us where her loyalty is located right now, and she is not a mage of Fairy Tail anymore. Even if your heart wants her back, Natsu, she does not love you." Erza told him with a stern look on her face while she wore a lovely pink kimono, just in case Lavana showed up to burn her equipment once again.

Natsu replied in a serious tone, as flames began to engulf his body while Erza's words were echoing into and bouncing around to have emphasis into his dense mind, "You're right, Erza. My heart must only be trying to let out the last pieces of Lucy by making me think that I love her, but I'm with Lisanna now. She is the woman that I love with all of my soul, the lady that I'll always be loyal to, so I won't let Lucy try to get in my head! After all, you know that the Grand Magic Games will be coming around again. If there is a Naval Battle again, then you or Lisanna should make Lucy pay for flipping to Sabertooth. She is just trying to play mind games, in an effort to mess with me!"

As the two of them continued to talk about where Natsu's love would currently stand, as they both also knew that Lisanna had gone out to shop for plenty of groceries, Erza and Natsu did not even know that Gray and Juvia were closely watching how it seemed like the fire dragon slayer was now being persuaded by Erza to cleanse himself of any feelings that pertained to Lucy. She was being pretty harsh on him about this, mainly because she loved to see Natsu getting all cuddly with Lisanna, and Erza's actions were somewhat weird. Ever since the day that Lucy took down Natsu with her Plant Demon Slayer Magic, it almost seemed like Erza really hated to see something so shocking.

Well, she was one of the people that helped Natsu and Lisanna keep their affair from getting to the ears of Lucy. The scarlet-haired mage really wanted to see good things happen with this couple, since she had a great bond with Lisanna, and Erza never really liked to see Natsu with Lucy. She would scold him for trying to make jokes about her body, even if they were pretty funny, and Natsu really liked to eat gummy worms while Lucy was scared of them. She thought that they were real worms with magical effects, since the candies did look eerily similar to the real ones that could be found in Fiore, and Erza never really liked how Lucy could be such a crybaby about certain things.

While Erza thought that Lucy only went through a few minor changes while she was now in the guild of Sabertooth, Gray could see that his sweet blonde friend had truly changed for the better. No one was really expecting Lucy to learn Plant Demon Slayer Magic, a type of magic that wielded great power to make things like trees and flowers go from being so nice to being really fierce, and Gray really thought that Erza was weaker than Lucy now. Based on the new skills of the Celestial Spirit Wizard, there was no doubt in the mind of Gray that he would definitely have a good time seeing all of the new things that his sweet friend could do. He would be cheering her on all the way, you know.

Juvia no longer saw Lucy as being her romantic rival, since the brown-eyed girl was now in love with Sting, but the blue-haired woman was still pretty curious about the fact that Lucy was a Plant Demon Slayer. That was definitely not normal, even though nothing in the world of magic should really be normal, but there was never really a reason as to why the word "normal" was not in any of Fiore's dictionaries. Juvia just thought that it was weird how the book that she had gotten from the library last week had spoke of Lavana wanting all of the other demon slayers to see her as their evil queen, since Lucy was far from evil, and it seemed like Lucy would never be wicked to anybody.

It was pretty clear that Lucy would not be caught up in any sort of malice or be mean to anyone, as that is what Gray and Juvia had believed, and both of them smiled at each other while knowing that the actions of Erza and Natsu would cause the Fairy Tail teams to fall apart in the Grand Magic Games. Besides, if the tag-battles were switched up to where they involved one person from Sabertooth having to work with a person from Fairy Tail, things would really get shaky. If Gray worked with Lucy, he would not mind defeating Natsu before giving the match to Lucy as a way to strengthen their friendship. After all, she was probably having some much-needed fun right now.

* * *

><p><strong>In the Haruba Desert...<strong>

Sting and Lucy were now in the desert of Haruba, which was also linked to the nearby town of Haruba, and both of the places had been filled with golden sand. They both shared the hot sand, which had heat that was strong enough to burn through the soles of Lucy's green running shoes, and the harsh amount of sunlight really went well with this place. The town also had its own coffee shop, which strangely only had cold products, and Sting bought two mochaccinos for himself and Lucy to drink. These delicious beverages did heat up quickly from the sunlight, making them go from being delectably cold to being scalding hot, and Lucy suggested that they just get coffee from the guild.

She wore a light blue T-shirt with some red shorts that also went well with her green running shoes, even though their soles had been burnt through, and Lucy's beautiful blonde hair was tied into a ponytail that was on the left side of her head. She was looking pretty good while trying to keep her arm over her eyes while crossing into the vast desert with Sting and Lector, since the sandstorms were blowing dust and sand all over the area, and it had been somewhat hard to trek through the hot sand. Lucy was really wishing that Shelly was on this job with them, since she could possibly even make a large ice cube melt to form a flood that would give everyone some relief from this heat.

The path from the town of Haruba to the desert of Haruba had been quite long, as the three friends from the guild of Sabertooth were forced to deal with the blazing hot heat, and touching any of the cliffs or rocks on this canyon-like path would be a bad idea. They were hot from the heat as well, some of them even melting from the sunlight's intense heat, and Lucy was unknowingly sharing her thoughts with Sting. Not only did they both hope to defeat the person causing trouble in the desert, but it was pretty appropriate to curse the guy who hid his treasure all the way out here. Even if there is a temple overlooking it, what fool hides loot in an area with desert terrain?

That guy was either going to come back for it at some point in his life, or he had possibly died from the desert's heat while being buried in the sand. If he had not hid his treasure in a place like this, there would be no jobs needing anyone to come out to this area. Sting also told Lucy to be careful while he looked pretty stern, letting her know that she was not the only dragon slayer capable of using the terrain to her benefit. Shelly had spoke of Desertia, the Earth Demon Slayer, and this was clearly a woman with the ability to even make mud become a person's worst nightmare. Rocks and sand were also great for her to use, and she was only the second-best demon slayer in Fiore.

As the vast desert had came into view with a large amount of golden sand surrounding some brown sand that was in the center of the desert, Sting's eyes widened in shock from smelling a familiar scent somewhere. Lucy could sense that there was more than one demon slayer up ahead, as she stood in between two rocky cliffs with Sting and Lector at her side, but the difference in their magical power seemed so wide. One of them had magical power that was giving off a weak vibe, but the other had such a high amount of intensity. Some fading smoke let Sting, Lucy, and Lector see that a battle just finished, but they gulped at the thought of why certain things were about to be explained.

The trio was told by a feminine voice that spoke in a rather calm tone, as the smoke was still fading away to signify that a previous battle had now ended, "Well, unlike how you pests started a fight with Heidi, your presence has been expected by me. She told me how it was pretty easy to wipe the floor with you both, which is not really that big of a surprise, and there is no way that you can beat me. I know that the situation already seems quite grim for you, newbie that wields the powers of plants and wind, and you should be pretty scared from being able to sense Shelly's fading power. She came back to try and take the treasure with all of her might, but she lost to me without even leaving a mark."

Lucy replied in a shocked manner, angry at how her friend was being treated like she was so very weak, "No way! You've got to be kidding me! Shelly is so very strong and clever, yet she's the one with the weak amount of magical power that I'm sensing? She really does like to get treasure, but for a genius like her to be taken down by the likes of you... You're very strong. Shelly told me about how she came here last week for the treasure, but you kept her from getting it! I know that you're in Lavana's crew, if your name is Desertia, and I don't care if you're the second-best demon slayer! When you mess with a friend of mine, then you'll have to mess with me! I'll help Sting make you have sand in your mouth!"

The white dragon slayer could only sigh a bit from the fact that trash-talking at major enemies was not one of Lucy's best skills, even though she was ready to fight, but his blue eyes caught sight of the smoke clouds finally parting to reveal the infamous Desertia. She had orange hair that looked like it was straightened, despite the fact that it only reached down to the lower parts of her ears, coupled with the weird fact that her eyes were also orange, and she wore an orange kimono as well. She seemed to be around the same age as Erza, based on how their chest sizes were almost the same while Desertia's cleavage was slightly more ample, and this would be a fierce battle.

The orange-haired woman began this fight by slightly stomping her left foot against the ground, making two walls of earth rise up from the ground while they surrounded her trio of foes, and Desertia calmly clapped her hands to make the walls slam into them at the same time. A large orange blast of energy transpired, sending out some high waves of power, and these waves of energy were not seen from any of the other demon slayers. Desertia was certainly in the same class as Heidi and Lavana, in terms of strength, and she giggled in a happy manner at how this fight ended quicker than her match with Shelly. However, was it truly over in such a hasty manner?

As the orange smoke began to clear up, Desertia frowned at the sight of Lucy and Sting being okay. They did not take any damage from her attack, due to Lucy using a new spell that she created at the last moment. It was known as Wind Demon's Air Shield, and this move made the air simply take the form of a mint green force field around the Sabertooth mages. The shield could protect them from attacks that tried to hit them from the outside, as well as blasts that could destroy many things around them, but this spell had a limited duration of five minutes. Lucy could increase its time limit and amount of defense with chain power, though, making it much more useful in battle.

Now having the chance to attack, Sting brought out one of his new moves. It was known as White Dragon's Holy Curve, and this move caused Sting to shoot out a large white laser beam from his mouth. This attack moved much faster than White Dragon's Roar, as it sped straight towards Desertia, but the speedy move was brought to a halt by a wall of sand that quickly rose up to protect Desertia. She smirked a bit while her right hand gently touched the sand wall in front of her, making it be engulfed in an orange aura, and the sand's properties were now changed to make it much denser than before. The sand was hot and hard enough already, but Desertia made the difficulty level of this fight increase by tapping her feet on the ground to send her demonic energy into the sand.

She let her amazed foes know that her Earth Demon Slayer Magic was not only able to harden sand or rocks, but Desertia could also allow her magic to communicate with the sand. That would explain how the wall of sand rose up from the ground without Desertia even doing a thing, and she could also change the sand's properties as well. Unknown to the heroes, that was how a certain black-haired woman had been sent under the earth while she was unconscious, having sunk down into a quicksand hole that Desertia created, and Shelly's body fell down on to some hard sand. After closing up that hole, tons of hard sand fell down on Shelly's body to make her feel more pain.

Even if she would wake up, the hot sand would just burn her body while making her scream in agony. The sand had been nice enough to just take the form of a golden blanket that covered everything below the top halves of Shelly's breasts, causing her to just blush a bit while not even being conscious, and it was safe to say that Desertia put her in a sandy coma. Their fight was rather one-sided, with Shelly taking a major beating while her body became covered with deep cuts and brutal bruises, and making a large pile of sand hit Shelly from all sides with its pressure and explosive powers had been enough to put the thieving woman into a coma. That sounds intense, right?

Being below the sand also meant that Shelly would have a lack of air as well, since all that the black-haired woman would see above her was going to be tons of sand, and the hot golden sand would make her perspire. Shelly was sweating profusely while she was unconscious, possibly even close to where her magical power would run out, and she would soon run out of water. That would lead to things like heat strokes and fevers, combined with the fact that Shelly was badly injured from her battle with Desertia, so it would be no exaggeration to say that Lucy and Sting were in a timed battle. With Shelly's fate on the line, they would definitely take down Desertia for being so cruel.

"All right, then! Now that we have all had a chance to get warmed up, it's time for the real ferocity of this battle to emerge! We're going to rescue Shelly, even if you've trapped in some deep part of that temple she told me about, so get ready to see one of my new spells! I'll even enhance it with some chain power to break through your dense sand, Desertia, so prepare yourself for this move that'll really blow you away in a single strike!" Lucy told her enemy in a confident tone while a fierce amount of determination was in her cocoa brown eyes, as she felt totally psyched up to bring out this new spell that was not so straightforward like she made it out to be.

Desertia responded to Lucy in a calm tone, her lips forming a smirk that went well with her intent to rebuff the strategy that the blonde mage had just spoke about, "You have a new move that you're going to use, I see, so go right ahead. However, as you saw firsthand from going against Heidi, chain power is not an effect that only boosts the strength of a single move. Also, do not think lightly of my Earth Demon Slayer Magic. Just like how it makes the ground grow much tougher, it makes my power grow as well. Whether you want to fight with close-range or long-range techniques, I can still beat you. After all, Lavana does call me the smart analyzer of our evil crew."

It seemed quite easy for the devious mistress of the desert to think about what moves that Lucy would end up using, assuming that she'd just be using brute force to try and win, and Desertia was curious to see the blonde girl call out a spell known as Wind Demon's Aerial Lotus. This move made a mint green ball of wind form in Lucy's left hand, before she quickly threw it at Desertia to simply cause a miniature mint green blast of wind energy to transpire. This attack made the blast's winds carry Desertia up into the air, as the winds surrounded the orange-haired woman while they took the form of a drill, and the drill of wind came back down quickly to create a massive blast of energy!

The massive mint green blast of energy slightly shook the desert, not even having enough power to reach down to where an unconscious Shelly was sweating while she smiled from how the hot sand seemed to be making her imagine that she was in a hot spring, and Sting knew that Desertia hardened the sand to make it be really durable against strong spells. Breaking it apart into pieces would not be possible, unless Lucy's next two spells were far stronger than Wind Demon's Aerial Lotus, and this fight was about to get even tougher. Let's just say that Desertia was still fighting at a pretty basic level, but she was about to use one spell that caused Shelly to be knocked out.

This next move would be known as Earth Demon's Sand Quake, and it worked in a somewhat simple way. The antagonist with orange hair had used her great amount of strength to jump high up into the air, before coming back down quickly while applying lots of magical power to her feet, and she did a perfect landing while her forceful fall shook the ground. The magnitude of her impact against the hard sand had caused the ground to shake, making Sting nearly lose his balance, and the sand moved around in a quick and raging manner like rough tidal waves. They could slam down on an opponent with their hardness and pressure, before creating massive orange blasts of earthy energy in the process, and this spell's power made more sand fall on Shelly while she snuggled down into it.

Narrowing her orange eyes at the sight of Lucy and Sting dodging her explosive waves of sand, Desertia called out the next spell that led to Shelly's defeat. It was known as Earth Demon's Muddy Wall, simply causing a wall of brown mud balls to rise up from the sand in front of Desertia, and she simply gave the wall a light tap with her right index finger to make all of the mud balls begin to separate. They all began to float up into the air while being surrounded by an orange aura, as some of them were also bigger than others, and Sting had to wonder how this spell would work. He also began to try and fathom how Shelly would have trouble against something like mud, too.

Much to his surprise, when the copious amount of mud balls quickly headed straight for him and Lucy, the projectiles felt hard like getting hit with rocks. Sting and Lucy were both having to endure the wrath of mud balls that created large orange blasts of Earth Demon Magic, and every blast was bigger than one that preceded it. Each mud ball also had more power than the one before it, letting Lucy widen her eyes in shock at the fact that this was truly the serious form of chain power. Those mud balls felt heavy and hard like metal, with the force and pressure from the blasts being even more vicious to the Sabertooth mages, but was Desertia finished with showing off her powerful moves?

She brought out another move that was able to catch her black-haired enemy off guard, and it was known as Earth Demon's Sweet Honey. Lucy thought that Desertia had to be lying about the name to hide the fact that it was really a giant boulder, but the treasure-loving woman actually spat out large orange globs of honey from her mouth. They landed on Lucy's feet, making her cool boyfriend look shocked while wondering if it was hurting her legs in any way, and the blonde mage began to struggle a bit while she couldn't move her feet. They were glued down to the hot sand, since this honey acted like paste to help Desertia immobilize her prey, and Lucy looked frustrated while she couldn't get free from the honey.

Desertia explained to the trio of heroes while she smirked evilly at the fact that Lucy was in a sticky situation, "You're pretty lucky to be fighting me from a distance, you insolent girl, and I'll just let you know that I can change the properties of my earthy moves. I can make hardened walls out of mud, or spit out honey that's like glue. You should've seen how Shelly wanted to use her last bits of strength to fight me in close-range combat, but I simply drenched her in honey that really oiled up her entire body. She was glistening while trying to hit me, only to have slippery punches and kicks that couldn't do a thing, and the honey was sweet enough to make her start hallucinating while I knocked her out with ease. She's so badly bruised up now while she even wanted a mud bath, and the honey's sweet smell had the effect to knock her unconscious while she dies from her bloody wounds or a lack of air. Hell, even my fierce long-range attacks made her bow down before me. She cried while licking my feet, and she begged for mercy."

Sting replied in a stern tone, his blue eyes filled with a large amount of disgust at how Desertia treated Shelly, "You know, that's just way too cruel. Taking down Shelly in a fight is one thing, but putting her in a dangerous situation where she could die is just going way too far! You're about to go down pretty hard from my attacks, and Lucy will help me beat you up while we also make sure that this fight ends with you having sand in your mouth! Even though those aren't the best words to use for trash talk, simply know that we'll shut you up and save our friend! Let's see how you like dealing with an awesome dragon slayer, Desertia!"

The blue-eyed male had used another new move, and this one was known as White Dragon's Mini Bombs. Ten white balls of light appeared in Sting's left hand, and he threw eight of them at the antagonist while placing the other two near Lucy's feet. The sand rose up in front of Desertia to stop Sting's bombs from hitting her, only to be met with eight large blasts of white light that broke through the shield of sand, and the bright light also lasted for 10 seconds to blind the villain's eyes. Sting told Lucy to close her eyes as well, which she did, and the blonde girl found herself able to break free from the honey because of the bombs being powerful enough to shatter it into pieces.

Lucy was quick enough to get out of the blasts' range, since she did not want to end up losing her feet, and she smiled a bit from seeing all of Sting's light begin to fade away. That spell had made many craters in the sand, possibly even making the hard sand go further underground, and Lucy was a bit worried about Shelly. She was running out of time, possibly not even having any time left, but trying to save her right now would possibly result in Desertia using the underground sand to suffocate Shelly. The orange-haired woman had to be taken down first, and wasting time was not going to be an option in this sadistic game that Lucy and Sting walked into.

Desertia used another spell that was known as Earth Demon's Sand Twister, and this spell kinda explained itself. She placed her hands on the ground to summon up a vicious twister of sand that moved in a clockwise motion, and it headed straight for Lucy. It was pretty clear that Desertia was trying to tell Sting that this was a battle between demon slayers, wanting him to back off for now, but Lucy was certainly going to give her a rough fight. Just because she was the newest demon slayer to emerge, that didn't mean her last two spells in this battle would be worthless. She used a new move known as Wind Demon's Air Fang, and this move could really make the tables turn.

Lucy's seventh spell caused her to make her hands take the shape of a mouth, as she aimed them right at the twister of sand, and mint green winds came from her hands to counter Desertia's twister. The amount of wind had been quite large, as it went into the sand twister, and the large attack began to change from being brown to being mint green. The spell was now under Lucy's command, and it obeyed her thoughts of spinning much faster while it headed back to its initial owner. Desertia looked a bit shocked to see that her own spell was now being used against her, and a massive mint green blast of energy transpired with the twister quickly struck her down! Quite cool, was it not?

Sting smiled proudly at the fact that Lucy just used a pretty wicked move, not even seeing her take in more air to give the spell a really massive boost, and he could also see that Desertia exposed her weak point from the very start of this fight. A demon slayer was like a dragon slayer and a god slayer in the sense that none of the three could eat or absorb their own magic, and that minty sand twister was still made from Desertia's magic. It had only merged with Lucy's winds, meaning that it was theoretically possible that either one of them could take damage from that attack, and Desertia also could not eat any of the sand because she filled it all with her Earth Demon Slayer Magic.

When the mint green smoke cleared up, the wielder of the desert sand was still standing. She had taken damage from her own fierce attack that worked in a good combo with Lucy's winds, and Desertia's orange kimono was oddly covered with cracks. It was not torn from the blast while there was also the creepy sight of her body having cracks all over it, and the villain's supposed body broke apart while it turned brown like the sand. Before the fierce attack struck her, she must've used the spell known as Earth Demon's Sand Armor. This did not produce a clone, but it made sand take the form of Desertia while it seemed like she would be wearing a suit of armor.

Sting really wondered if this woman was made of sand, thinking aloud about how she was also being a total pain in the butt, and Desertia simply told him that she would not need to recreate her sand armor to deal with a couple of pests. The Earth Demon Slayer was truly impressed by how Lucy's spell tore through her armor like that, noting that was something Shelly failed to do, and this battle would be decided by the final two spells. Desertia was definitely going to use her ultimate move, which had been known as Earth Demon's Terra Crush, and let's just say that it would be pretty big. In fact, Desertia's mastery of Earth Magic could even make Jura or Hoteye end up shaking in fear.

She slammed her fists down against the hard and hot sand while an orange aura surrounded them, making sure that this attack would end the fight, and a large brown serpent emerged from underground. It was made of rocks, though, and this snake could make an extremely massive blast of energy transpire when it ate something. The snake could also shoot out large rocks from its mouth, creating orange explosions of Earth Magic in the process, and this snake could also move very fast. Desertia also had powerful moves in close combat as well, but she felt that it would be very unwise to show off too many skills in one battle. She was not exactly flashy like Heidi, you know.

As the snake charged straight towards Lucy, Sting could see that his sweet lover had confidence in her cocoa brown eyes. She was going to take on Desertia's massive move with her ultimate spell, and it was known as Wind Demon's Sky Tower. This spell did not call for Lucy to do anything, but it caused the winds to take the form of a large emerald green serpentine-like creature. This creature was high in the air above the sandy desert, making both mages look a bit scared, and Lucy's new creature had fired an extremely large towering vortex of green winds down into the mouth of Desertia's snake! It was certainly choking on air, right?

The vortex had drilled all the way down into the snake's heart, before an extremely massive mint green blast of energy transpired! The wind had detonated from within the snake, much to the shock of Desertia, and the orange-haired woman could only keep her mouth open in disbelief while she did not react fast enough to see that Lucy used their clash of powerful spells as a little distraction to keep the villain's attention off of her. The blonde-haired girl picked up some sand with her right hand, making it form the shape of a ball, and she slammed it right into Desertia's mouth. Even as she saw her chew on the sand, before she was about to spit it out, Lucy looked pretty pleased.

"I told you that we would end up putting sand in your mouth to shut you up, Desertia, so take us to where Shelly is! Even if we have to go far inside that temple, we still want to see our friend. Tell us what you've done with her, Desertia, and we don't care if you get Lavana on our case about this! Shelly has nakama that were worried when we did not see her in the guild today, and don't think that we even want the treasure. You can keep it, since friends are more valuable than money." Lucy told Desertia in a stern tone while seeing her spit out the last bits of sand from her mouth, waiting for her reply that could go either way.

Desertia responded with a calm smirk on her face, really amused that the newest demon slayer would be so bold to not care about the strength of the great Lavana, "Shelly's temptation for treasure is what caused her defeat against me, not like she even stood a chance, and I buried her underground in the desert. The quicksand I created, as well as the honey on her body, made it quite easy for her to slip through the sand. She's probably resting down there while being covered from head to toe in sand, as the sweet honey pleasures her mind and body while she's still unconscious. As for facing Lavana, little newbie, she would burn you with one attack. She is even stronger than me, and that last spell of mine was not even my true ultimate move. The power of you, combined with me forgetting to take my magic out of the sand, led to the tables being turned on you. Yes, newbie. It is possible to put magic in and take it out of something. I'll let you go, but don't act like you're hot stuff. I'm still second to Lavana, you know."

Before Sting could ask the villain about telling them exactly where Shelly was located, Desertia simply smirked a bit while removing her Earth Demon Slayer Magic from the golden sand. An orange aura went into her hands, before she vanished in a twister of sand, and Lucy looked shocked to see her go like she was in a rush. With the ground now softened up, Lucy thought that this was now a good time to start using her Celestial Spirits again. She pulled out the key for Virgo from the left pocket of her red shorts, opening the Gate of The Maiden, and Lucy summoned the pink-haired spirit. Virgo looked very calm while politely bowing to her princess, and it seemed like she understood Lucy's thoughts about finding Shelly.

She jumped up into the air, before spinning like a drill, and Virgo simply spun back down on to the desert sand to drill through it with ease. Even though Desertia had softened it up, she made it a little too soft. Virgo really tunneled through the sand with some mad skills, as she could faintly sense Shelly's magical power, and Lucy wondered if her spirit's new powers were a result of the new strength she obtained from being a demon slayer with two powerful elements. Also, her Celestial Spirits would also get stronger because of her demonic powers fusing with their celestial energy. As she was creating spells and getting stronger, they would grow stronger as well.

As she called out to Lucy to let her know that Shelly was found, Virgo seemed a bit surprised to see Lucy and Sting fall through the desert sand while the ground broke apart. It was clear that Desertia really trolled her foes by removing the ground's durability as well, causing even the slightest step to make big cracks in the ground, but the orange-haired woman would come back to repair her beloved desert. After all, the treasure of the Haruba Desert was still not found yet. No one knew where that treasure was located, since the temple was ominous enough to even scare off Ivan Dreyar from Raven Tail, but Lucy and Sting were not concerned with riches right now.

They fell through the ground to be in a room that was filled with tons of sand, even though they were just under the surface of the hot desert, and Lucy looked around. She could see that the walls and floor were still just sand, meaning that the treasure was not buried here, but Lucy gasped in shock from seeing that Shelly was buried under the hot sand. Her tan skin glistened from the honey on her body, just like Desertia had said, and Shelly also looked like she was enjoying this while she seemed to be in some kind of dream. She was smiling while not even caring that the heat would probably dry out her skin, and Sting quickly used White Dragon's Roar to get all the sand off of her body.

Lucy and Virgo pulled Shelly out from under the sand to see that her arms and legs were covered in harsh cuts and brutal bruises, as she also seemed to be breathing slightly, and the beautiful woman with aqua blue eyes was feeling really hot right now. That was mostly because she had been under the hot sand for quite a while, as the fact of not having much magical power left had caused Shelly to feel really exhausted while the scent of Desertia's honey tricked the unconscious woman's mind into thinking that was paradise, and she would feel an intense amount of pain from reality when she woke up. Shelly also stripped down for the desert, since it was really hot.

She was wearing only her black lacy bra and black lacy panties right now, knowing that the desert would be a very hot place, and at least Shelly was prepared for the weather. Even though she knew about Desertia, Shelly did not know about all of the different moves that she could use. Lucy and Sting could hold their own against the Earth Demon Slayer, only because of how they were smart to fight her from a safe distance, and they worked together to make her flee. It was true that she had only been toying around with them, but Desertia had more expertise than Heidi did. She did not even use her best skills, but still saw Lucy's great powers as being quite worthy.

As Virgo returned to the Celestial Spirit World while Lucy exhaled a large breath of air on the ground to propel herself up to the cliff where the temple was located, Sting carried Shelly in his arms while Lector carried the white dragon slayer out of the hole. The red Exceed flew up to the cliff with his friends, before putting Sting and Shelly down on the ground, and this was quite a fierce battle. Sting and Lucy made a great pair, since they were able to put sand in Desertia's mouth to back up that odd trash talk, and the fierce couple were definitely starting to make themselves known to Lavana now. Going up against the third-best and second-best demon slayers was kinda asking for a death wish, though.

Lucy felt pretty hungry now, since all of that fighting really made her work up quite the appetite, and Sting was feeling the need to get some good coffee that would not be scalding hot. Both of the mages thought of the fact that Desertia worked with the sand while Lavana's made her seem like she could control fire. Those two could make a dangerous pair, maybe even a dangerous trio if Heidi was at their levels of power, and Sting wanted to know why Lavana's crew was so intent on taking down Shelly. Lucy also shared his thoughts, loving how they almost shared one mind at certain times, but she also looked a bit anxious while secretly hoping that this she was not right below Shelly on Lavana's list of people to eliminate.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 15? Did you like it? Lucy and Sting had quite the fierce battle with Desertia, didn't they? Sorry if Sting didn't do much, but his new moves get focused on more in the next chapter. The NaLu and NaLi will keep appearing as well, since Erza and Lisanna will help Natsu stay loyal to his current girlfriend. Anyway, what does Shelly reveal about her past? Why does she feel all sorts of depressing emotions from talking about Lavana? Who wishes good luck to Sabertooth for the upcoming Grand Magic Games? Standby for the update!<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Prepping for the Grand Magic Games; The Day of Many Plots<strong>

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><p>Shelly slowly opened her aqua blue eyes to discover that she was now in the place that appeared to be the infirmary of the Sabertooth guild, with its white tiled floor and white walls to match, and the black-haired woman looked down at her body to see that it was mostly wrapped in white bandages. Even her head had been wrapped in bandages, making Shelly wonder if something went on in the Haruba Desert, and all that she could really recall were the events from the previous day. She went out in search of that famous treasure, having an encounter with the Earth Demon Slayer known as Desertia in the process, and the two demon slayers engaged in a pretty intense battle.<p>

Even though Shelly had tried to put up a good fight, using her most powerful spells and her most clever moves, she groaned in frustration while her hands gripped the white bed sheets. Desertia was just far too strong, really showing Shelly why she was known as the second-best demon slayer in Fiore, and all of Shelly's spells were torn through like they were just weak. Some of her moves did not even break through the sand armor of her orange-haired foe, which made Desertia rile her up into getting angry, and Shelly kept using up her Water Demon Slayer Magic in an attempt to turn the battle around. The heat caused the calm woman to lose her temper, as well as lose lots of magical power.

She also used her Ice Demon Slayer Magic as well, only to have Desertia's tough rocks break through every single icy spell while making orange blasts of energy transpire, and the power of her attacks made Shelly suffer an intense amount of damage. She had sent a sandstorm towards Shelly, hit her with dense mud balls, made large boulders fall on her, and even created large waves of sand to slam down on her with their intense amount of pressure. All of these spells created orange blasts and explosions, causing Shelly to take many painful blows while she screamed in agony, and there were many bruises on her body. With no other choice, she resorted to close combat with punches and kicks.

As she ran towards Desertia, though, Shelly did not expect her foe to be quick enough with throwing a rock at her abdomen. That dense rock stopped Shelly in her tracks, making her look really pained while coughing up blood, and the evil woman with orange eyes was happy to hear Shelly panting heavily. She ran straight towards her, following up with a strong elbow slam to the black-haired woman's chest, and Shelly felt so drained while she could only rest her head on Desertia's left shoulder. Being so close to her would be a fatal mistake, however, as Desertia tightly gripped Shelly's arms with her strong hands. She drenched her in honey that came from her mouth, getting Shelly to be glistening from head to toe while she was oiled up like a polished trophy.

Simply ignoring the honey, Shelly tried to hit Desertia with a barrage of punches and kicks. However, her fists and feet were too drenched in honey for her to land a single slow. She slipped right off of Desertia, really hating that she fell into her trap, and Shelly was met with her enemy creating many fists out of the hardened sand. She also created sandy claws as well, and that could not be good. The fists slammed themselves against every part of Shelly's body, making her scream in pain while she was getting bruised up, and Desertia's claws of sand were making deep cuts on Shelly's arms and legs. They also made deep slicing marks on her back as well, causing her to fall over.

She landed on her hands and knees while the pain was strong enough to make her cry, and Shelly's body trembled in fear while she begged for Desertia to have mercy on her. She even promised to be a loyal servant to Lavana this time, even telling Desertia that she'd love to have fiery beatings on a daily basis, and Desertia leaned down to give her old ally what she really deserved. Desertia pretended to offer out her left hand as a sign that the fight was over, before turning it into a fist that was surrounded by an orange aura. She ended this match with a powerful punch to Shelly's face, knocking her unconscious in the process, and Desertia created that quicksand hole to let Shelly die from being filled with quicksand or going underground to suffer from a heat stroke and suffocate from a lack of air.

Shelly had painfully landed on the sand, due to falling from such a high height, but she was not even conscious to feel the intense pain. Her arms and legs took massive damage from Desertia's attacks, not even able to move, and all of the hot sand that fell on Shelly had made her begin to perspire. The honey on her body had the effects of making her mind be in a delirium, and Shelly blushed softly while imagining that she was in a hot spring. She even hallucinated about Lavana giving her warm kisses in bed, making her hot fire pleasure Shelly's body, and her burning tongue licked many places. However, Shelly still felt miffed about her humiliating defeat at the hands of Desertia.

As the woman with aqua blue eyes was slowly taking off her bandages to get out of bed, Lucy told her in a happy tone while smiling with joy in her cocoa brown eyes, "Shelly, it's so good to see that you're awake! We were all totally worried about you, since that fight with Desertia made so many bruises appear on your body, and she had also tried to bury you alive. Really, that evil Earth Demon Slayer left you with hardly any chance of living. Sting and I went out on a simple job that involved taking down a villain in the Haruba Desert, and Desertia was really tough. She let us walk away freely, but we still didn't expect to know that you were in the desert. The match ended in a tie, though."

"I don't think that it's necessary to give any compliments to Desertia, Lucy, and it's really not the time for you to remind me how I got beaten down so easily by her! It's pretty irritating to know that I couldn't even land a single attack on her, and now you tell me that she almost buried me alive? Don't try to make me feel better by telling me that you proved to be a challenge for her while I couldn't do a thing, and she probably let you walk away because you're the newbie. Look, just don't talk to me about it." Shelly replied in a cold tone while taking off more of the bandages on her body, as she turned away from Lucy and the others who were currently in the room.

Rogue, Sting, Yukino, Rufus, Orga, and Wendy were all in the room with Lucy to see if Shelly would ever wake up, and it looked like her wounds had been scabbed over. The scabs would vanish and let the bruises heal soon, though, thanks to Wendy being able to keep Shelly from dying. Even though Wendy's healing powers could make her patients recover at quick rates, healing Shelly's spirit to make her attitude be better would certainly prove to be a challenge. She was pretty pissed about the fact that Desertia beat her so easily, despite their difference in power, and hearing that a newbie like Lucy brought their battle to a tie had made Shelly feel like she was just pathetic.

She also felt depressed about the fact that none of her spells even made a scratch be on the expert of earthy power, as they were also torn through like they were really weak, and Shelly was stuck in between the emotions of anger and sadness. She was mad about the fact that Desertia riled her up so easily with that sand armor, which was denser than the brain of Natsu, and Shelly also felt sad about the fact that the other demon slayers might see her as a weakling now. She was really careless by letting the desert's treasure be the temptation to cause her to know the taste of defeat, and Shelly also felt stupid for not seeing that getting close to Desertia would only result in sweet honey making her falter.

Everyone seemed to be really worried about Shelly's current state right now, as she took off the last of the bandages, and she was clearly upset about losing to a member of Lavana's crew. It was quite possible that she really wanted to dismantle that alliance, even though it was composed of the strongest demon slayers, and they all seemed to be on the side of evil. Skyla wanted to kill Shelly, Heidi wanted to cause electrical havoc in an amusement park, Desertia was a sadistic person, and Lavana seemed to be evil. Shelly wanted to take down Lavana for so long, but her confidence about doing that had really dropped down to zero. After all, she almost died while hallucinating in the sand.

She was still wearing her black lacy bra and black lacy panties from the past day, since Sting and Lucy sunk their friend down into the depths of the hot spring to help her body regain some magic while the water would also get the honey off of her body, and Shelly still felt pain in her body while she got out of bed. Bruises and wounds covered her entire body while she still had some broken bones, and she still hadn't fully recovered. Shelly fiercely told everyone to just leave her alone right now, as she went to go start off her day with a hot bath that would make her feel revitalized because of the Water Magic, and this crushing defeat made her clench her fists in frustration. As she walked out of the infirmary, feeling like she had been so weak to beg Desertia for mercy, Shelly looked very angry while trying to hold back the tears of feeling humiliated.

Lucy wanted to run after Shelly in an attempt to comfort her, but Sting put his left hand on her right shoulder while calmly telling her that there were times when words of sympathy could only make things worse. Losing a battle against one of her rivals made Shelly feel crushed, despite the fact that Lucy and Sting went through a longer battle with a higher level of difficulty, and hearing Lucy say that she and Sting tied against the orange-haired woman in a fight had made Shelly feel like she was a weak person who needed her battles to be continued by someone else. She needed time to get over her ridiculous defeat, though, and only the words of a friend could help right now.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Erza was sitting at a table with Natsu and Lisanna, glad to see that the happy couple was sharing a lovely chocolate cake that tasted really delicious, and the scarlet-haired mage also found herself to be glad about the fact that the fire dragon slayer could kiss his girlfriend's left cheek without showing any weird signs about his heart's little feelings for Lucy. It would not be good at all for Natsu, if he were to cheat on another girl, and the pink-haired male did not want to play the white-haired mage for a fool like how he had done with Lucy. The current days of the present were taking place right now with Lisanna, and Natsu had to leave Lucy back in the old days of the past.

Even if he was having small feelings for her, Natsu would simply have to accept that Lucy moved on with Sting. She had no intentions of wanting to be back with him, since he had been slithery like a snake that could tell venomous lies, and Lucy did not want to be around someone that would just betray her with no remorse. Natsu truly did have remorse, even though it came far too late, and he had been feeling some guilt about what he had done to his ex. Cheating on her and going behind her back with another woman was one thing, but he did go a bridge too far by trying to kill her. After all, there was no need for the fight to escalate to such a serious level with raging flames.

Natsu really had to get Lucy out of his head, since that would be quite tragic for his lovely relationship with Lisanna, and the fire dragon slayer could not control what transpired next. He gave Lisanna a very passionate kiss on the lips, putting his warm hands on her cheeks, and Natsu simply let his head take care of the romantic aspect of his life. He was going to be loyal to his blue-eyed lover, feeling the kiss remind him of the many reasons why he chose to cheat on Lucy, and Natsu knew that Erza would also kill him if he caused any harm to Lisanna in any way. She was very sweet to him, even though she rudely loved the fact that Lucy was no longer in the way of their love.

Lisanna also hoped that Natsu would stay faithful to her, since their year-long anniversary would interestingly be transpiring on one night of the Grand Magic Games, and she also spoke to Makarov about putting them on the same team. That's how their trust and love would build up even more, with the added fact of them not having to fight each other in the survival tournament, and they were also a fierce combo to deal with on missions. Besides, one of the magazines that Lisanna had read was able to tell her that couples that worked in the same group would have major chances of success. She wanted Fairy Tail to end up winning once again and getting the trophy, you know.

She also wanted to hold up that prized golden trophy with Natsu at her side, giving her a very joyous kiss of victory, and Lisanna would be more than glad to be in a modeling event as well. She would flaunt her body for Natsu, since he did tend to like the fact that she was really sexy, and the white-haired mage smiled in a somewhat scheming manner while hoping that her beauty would make Lucy become jealous. She wanted the blonde girl to see that Natsu was out of her reach, not even thinking about her anymore, and Lisanna would laugh at Lucy if Sabertooth got 2nd place. That's what she might get for flipping to the rival guild, but wouldn't Lucy still have the better guy?

"Natsu, I am so very excited about the fact that the Grand Magic Games are coming up! This year, I am going to compete by your side and we will get to hold up the golden trophy together. It shall be one of the most wonderful symbols of our sweet love, and it'll be good to rub our victory in Lucy's face. She'll probably get really mad about the fact that her wimpy guild could not win against us, but that's what she gets for changing guilds. She's weak for not accepting our relationship, you know." Lisanna told him in a happy manner while giving him a hug of cheer, ambition building up in her cute blue eyes while she knew that their love could take down Lucy with ease.

The fire dragon slayer replied in a calm tone while he smiled happily at his cute girlfriend, using the fork and knife to cut a big slice of their delicious chocolate cake for her to eat, "You're absolutely right about that, my sweet Lisanna. If Lucy was really a strong girl, then she would've stayed around in the guild of Fairy Tail to simply be a spectator in the stands while we show off the blazing power of our love. She'll start crying when we win the trophy in the Grand Magic Games, and we can just make out while she gets comfort from that smug jerk named Sting. I don't even care if Lucy is a demon slayer now, and that's because we'll slam our brutal strength down hard on her and Sting."

While Natsu did not even know that brute strength could not stop Lucy from slamming sand into the mouth of Desertia, since she would show no hesitation in doing the same thing to him, Mira had a smile on her face while she watched Cana drink down a keg of booze. The brown-haired woman sat down on a stool while looking a bit sad about the fact that Lucy would not be on the side of Fairy Tail this year, since she had been betrayed by the people who she initially saw as her loyal friends, and Cana was starting to regret the fact that she did not tell Lucy from the very start about the fact that Natsu was playing her like a fool while he was having a romantic affair with Lisanna.

Cana and Lucy were best friends when the latter was in Fairy Tail, even partnering up together for the S-Class Exam on Tenrou Island in the year of X784, but that was all in the past. The fact that Cana chose to side with Natsu over Lucy had said a lot, mainly because she thought that Lucy would freak out and go into panic attacks over the fact that she had been duped by the fire dragon slayer, and Lucy wasted so much time on a guy that never even really loved her. For so many months, the blonde girl was being kept in the dark while the person that she saw as a best friend had just watched her suffer from being misled by a dirty cheater who did not even deserve to be with her.

Even though this would be a pretty evil plot to help Gray take apart the pieces of Natsu's alliance, since it would be wrong for the guild members to start fighting each other like how they had done in a battle for Fairy Tail that Laxus had once initiated, Mirajane knew that it would be smart to coax the weakest links of a group into flipping on their alliance. Erza was quite a tough nut to crack, despite the fact that Mira nearly seduced her one day when they were alone in the female dormitory known as Fairy Hills, so Mira would now be using her skills of manipulation and love to make a regretful Cana see that the path to patching things up with Lucy could be very close by.

She smiled happily while telling Cana that she heard a rumor that Lucy had an electrifying battle at an amusement park while fighting against a girl named Heidi, which actually turned out to be totally true, and Mira's blue eyes were filled with joy as she had to wonder if those girls became best friends. Everyone hated to get replaced, whether it be as a girlfriend or a best friend, and Mira's joyful tone could only make Cana widen her violet eyes in shock at the thought of Lucy having a new best friend. If being cheated on and lied to had really drove her to do something so drastic, even though Mira was lying, Cana knew that she had to make amends with Lucy in some way.

Cana replied calmly while she looked disappointed about that, saying how she could not even show Lucy that she was so sorry for not being a true friend, and the card mage did not exactly know where the guild of Sabertooth was located. She also did not know how to get there, but Mirajane giggled happily while giving her friend some much-needed assurance about the fact that there was no need to worry. Since the Grand Magic Games would be coming up pretty soon, let's just say that Cana could use those five or seven days to try and restore her friendship with Lucy. She would also want to know about who Heidi was, and Cana would have to put Natsu aside to focus on her own issues.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile...<strong>

Shelly was now in the shower, feeling the warm beads of precipitation latch onto her skin. She watched as the dirt and dust that coated her body had slid away, swirling around the drain before disappearing. Running her fingertips along her left arm, she felt the bruises from the harsh battle begin to form and soon they would turn into a sickly purple hue against her skin. She closed the shower door and leaned her head against the white tiled wall, tears streaming from her puffy red eyes down to her cheeks. Her throat constricted as the temperature began to increase and steam began to form, fogging up the glass door of her bathroom. She was pretty upset about this loss, really.

The black-haired woman was really knowing the taste of defeat from her humiliating loss against Desertia, unable to even make a single spell get past that sand armor, and Shelly just couldn't stand the fact that she even got hit by Desertia's attack that drenched her in honey. She felt so very weak and angry with herself, miffed that all of her spells were torn through so easily by the attacks and defenses of the Earth Demon Slayer, and Shelly let out a gasp of air as a wave of nausea rose from her gut. It was also quite humiliating for her to be beaten down and knocked out so easily, which really dealt quite a blow to Shelly's ego. She had felt strong, but this loss made her feel weak.

Even though she knew that her friends were not going to ridicule her in any way, since Lucy and Sting had quite a tough time with Desertia, Shelly still let the tears flow from her eyes while feeling utterly inferior to the woman who took her down with ease. She tilted her head back to let the water wash away the dirt and sand that had been entwined within the fibers of her black hair, as she let some blue body wash flow down her body to make it now be soapy, but even getting clean did not make her feel any better about the fact that she was totally outclassed by the orange-haired woman. Shelly punched the wall in anger, only to feel the recoil of her fist hurting. Even simple anger was bounced back at her, making her sigh in depression while she felt so weak.

A sob escaped her lips as she steadied herself against the wall, her body trembling with some fear while she remembered Desertia's fierce amount of power, and Shelly felt like that woman could tower over her in terms of strength. She sighed again while twisting her black hair in her hands, as bits of mud also fell down on to the shower floor. She washed the rest of her body in a slow and steady motion, relishing in the warm feeling of the hot steam against the goosebumps that kissed her skin. Shelly's tears continued to run their course, staining her cheeks until she plunged her face into the hot water to feel the sticky tears be washed away. Her pride was really hurt, as it seemed.

As her mind went back to the previous day, Shelly could only look ashamed at how she was still frightened of the power wielded by Desertia. These two had known each other from a while back, and the woman with aqua blue eyes was even begging to be beaten by Lavana for her betrayal. Shelly did not want to die at the hands of Desertia, which is why she cried and begged for mercy when it was clear that she couldn't win, and the black-haired woman also feared that Lavana would show up to finish the plot of killing Shelly. She would even bow down to Lavana, if she had to be one of her servants again, and that fiery lady was pretty fearsome. Desertia was tough, too, but Shelly hated how she had been so weak.

_"Desertia, please stop attacking me. I'm so badly wounded from your attacks, and none of my spells are doing a thing to you. If you don't feel like sparing my life, then just know that I'll rejoin Lavana's side of evil if you let me live. I'll even take fiery beatings from her on a daily basis, letting myself get punished for my betrayal, and you'll even get to see me lick the lovely feet of our demonic queen. Have mercy on me, and I'll be sweet like the honey you lubed me up with. You are my superior in every way."_ Shelly begged her while crying, being down on her hands and knees as she also trembled in fear while looking so very beaten and bruised up.

The woman with expertise in Earth Demon Slayer Magic had replied with a calm smile on her face while she squatted down to be at eye level with Shelly, before giving her an evil smirk of wicked thoughts, _"That offer of yours is very tempting, indeed. However, you sweet little traitor, there's one thing that you don't realize about being oiled up in honey. You can try and stick to Lavana's crew again while getting a fiery punishment from hell, but you already showed us how slippery you are. There really is no more reason to let you live, and I don't give in to temptation like how the treasure tempted you to come here. Still, beg and cry like the little dog that you are. Maybe I'll even give you a nice bath in the sand as well, you worthless fool!"_

That little talk took place right before Desertia knocked Shelly out with that powerful strike to the head, before using a quicksand hole to send her deep down into the hot sand, and the honey's sweet scent took its effects on the blue-eyed woman while she was being buried alive. Remembering all of that had made Shelly tighten her fists in anger, before wincing in pain at the fact that her body was still sore from yesterday, and she turned off the water to signify that her shower had ended. This crushing defeat was really making her feel like a downer, and she hoped that her friends would just leave her alone while not letting her bad mood dampen their moments that could be happy.

Now that she was finished with her shower, Shelly opened the bathroom door with her left hand while she used her right hand to grab a white towel that was on a nearby rack. She stepped out of the bathroom while also drying her body, wincing in pain when she would touch her bruises or any sore patches of muscle. Wrapping the towel around her body, before tying her beautiful black hair up in a ponytail, Shelly simply walked over to the window in her dorm room. She sighed a bit while looking out the window, feeling the sunlight's warmth shine down on her while she could see the flowers growing on the grass, and Shelly did not even hear Lucy come into her room.

The blonde girl lightly cleared her throat, causing Shelly to jump a bit while she turned around, and Lucy was also followed by the other main members of their prestigious guild known as Sabertooth. It still doubled as a luxurious resort for people to feel quite merry, since Wendy was currently sipping fine blueberry soda from the straw that was in a cup that she had gotten from the third floor. Shelly looked a bit miffed at the sight of Sting and the others smiling about the fact that they wanted to cheer her up, even though she would say that they did not need to try and make her look at the bright side of things, but pushing them away and being all alone was not a good thing.

That loss against Desertia had made Shelly feel like she fell into a dark hole of despair to be left with her thoughts on how she was weak enough to beg for mercy while surrendering to the enemy, but Lucy and the others would always be there to help Shelly whenever she fell. They would not let their friend have to feel so alone, and Sting openly let Shelly know that she technically did not lose that battle in the desert because of the fact that Sting and Lucy arrived right after she had been buried alive. To put it in simple terms, Shelly's battle still went on with Lucy and Sting taking her place for the rest of the fight. They may have been let off easy, but it was still called as a tie.

Even though there was no way that she could have a rematch with Desertia, as well as the fact that she did not want to fight against Lavana, Shelly knew that keeping her thoughts bottled up would only cause a large amount of self-inflicted emotional pain. She had to tell her friends about her past while hoping that they would still think of her as a friend, not wanting them to see her as the evil demon slayer that she once was, and Shelly also knew that this info would be crucial for Lucy and Sting to know as well. After all, the previous day was now the second time that they fought against a fierce demon slayer by themselves. Those women were not to be messed with, you know.

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><p><strong>20 minutes later, in the guildhall...<strong>

Shelly had started things off by telling her friends that she used to be in Lavana's crew of evil, still ranked as the fifth-strongest demon slayer in the country of Fiore, and the woman with beautiful aqua blue eyes would steal treasure from anybody. She even made seas of water flood many towns, causing people to drown in the process, and she would also freeze people with her Ice Demon Slayer Magic as well. She never really cared about the fact that their hearts would freeze, and Shelly was also an assassin. Under the command of Lavana, she robbed people of treasure and killed anyone that tried to go against her. Shelly enjoyed being on the side of evil, and it was quite fun.

She even got to enjoy sunbathing while being on the rocky ground in the place known as Magma Cavern, getting a very sexy tan while there were even hot springs inside of the volcano, and Shelly would enjoy taking hot baths while Lavana would use her flames to heat up the water. Shelly did not really mind the hot temperatures of the water, though, since it was giving lovely kisses to her skin, and she also did not mind the fact that Lavana would rub her shoulders or heat up her own hands to caress Shelly's six-pack abs. Her touch was so very fiery, even to the point where she could heal people with such a warm touch, and Shelly loved feeling Lavana's hands all over her body.

It felt so good to also watch Lavana plan out her strategies like she was always thinking five moves ahead of her foes, something that Erza had found out in the worst way, and Shelly loved being her student. She also sparred with Lavana, Desertia, Heidi, and Skyla to get her strength up as well. Those four fights had cleverly taught her about smarts, power, speed, and control. Even though Skyla lacked control in her recent fight, she was still a forced to be reckoned with. Shelly's powers of the water specialized in defense, making her be the perfect partner for Lavana, and Shelly loved to see the fire demon slayer be known as hell's queen. Being evil was fun, but it came at a price.

When Lavana felt like she needed to become a demon slayer that wielded two types of magic to be known as a hybrid, not telling Shelly about what they had to do on the little task made by Lavana herself, the fiery woman was glad to have heard rumors about a Heavenly Demon Slayer named Rosalina. It turned out to be a little girl that had been taught by a Heavenly Demon, just like how Lavana was taught by a demon, but Lavana's fiery moves and her desire for malice made her seem more like a demon. Shelly was curious about what they were doing in the prosperous town of Aeris, standing before this young girl, but Lavana smirked evilly while shoving Shelly aside.

Rosalina had long pink hair to match her pink eyes, as she wore pink pajamas with pink bunny slippers to match, but even the little girl's cuteness could not save her from getting her magic stolen. Lavana extended her left hand for a handshake, with Rosalina accepting her hand, but the devious woman squeezed the young girl's hand while a pink aura began to engulf her body. She easily stole Rosalina's magic from her, taking all of it away to leave the young girl defenseless, and Lavana then proceeded to destroy her with a weak spell that set her on fire. She was about to follow up with a fiery vortex, but a certain person's water doused the flames on Rosalina.

Lavana looked angry at the sight of Shelly trying to interfere with the killing of a pawn that had served its purpose, having no more use for a cute girl that was just trash to her, and she looked shocked to see that a member of crew stood in front of her to keep Rosalina safe. Shelly sternly told her that stealing magic from a little kid was pretty rude, even if she was a demon slayer, and trying to kill a young girl was just going way too far. If she was of no more use to Lavana, wouldn't the most logical choice be to just walk away from her with no remorse? Lavana wanted to test out her new powers of Heavenly Demon Slayer Magic, but could she really bring herself to use them on Shelly?

As the two women locked eyes, clearly having views that greatly contrasted in this situation, Lavana could only close her eyes while giggling a bit. She calmly told Shelly that she was not really evil, seeing this act of compassion for a weakling as an act of betrayal as well, and the red-haired woman let her friend know that getting in her way was simply having a death wish. Lavana would tell Desertia and the other members of her evil alliance about Shelly's desire to get in her friend's way of being a demonic queen, since it seemed like she would not obey her master like a good little bishop on the chessboard, and the fire demon slayer vanished in a simple flame while laughing evilly.

Before departing, though, Lavana's final words to Shelly were that she was only the fifth-strongest demon slayer in all of Fiore. The black-haired woman would now have to join a light guild, in order to make money while she actually thought of trying to change her ways, and that day was when Shelly was no longer friends with Lavana. She could never let a kid get hurt, even if they had the best magic that anyone wanted to steal, and Shelly used her Water Demon Slayer Magic to heal Rosalina. Shelly then proceeded to warp through a nearby puddle of water, but not before her new young friend let her know that Lavana only took away half of her power because the pink-haired girl split her power with an astral clone that was still asleep in her house. Wow, now wasn't that kid quite clever for her young age?

Lucy told Shelly in a shocked manner while the entire group of main Sabertooth members sat at a table in the guildhall, "Wow, I did not know that it was possible for demon slayers to split their amount of magical power in half. It sounds like Rosalina played a pretty good trick on Lavana by letting her think that she took all of her magic, just to make the situation end in a pretty simple way, but there is the possibility that Lavana strengthened up that Heavenly Demon Slayer Magic for it to be on par with her Fire Demon Slayer Magic. Not only has she sounded like someone with a pretty big ego, but she also sounds really terrifying. At least you think that dismantling her crew will have some effect."

The black-haired woman replied calmly, as she was still wearing only her white towel while sitting down at the table with her friends, "She probably did boost it up to be more powerful than the spells that Rosalina could create, and her moves must be really dangerous. She has the desire to be a demonic queen that can't be beaten, but there's no need to worry about Lavana being one of those cliched villains that would throw the world into a state of darkness or require a book of spells for power. She simply wants to be the best demon slayer, since she killed the very demon that taught her Fire Demon Magic, but there's something odd about her presence. She seems to have taken in too much of that magic, though, and violent changes occur when a demon slayer takes in too much of their respective demonic magic."

As Lucy and Sting both had to wonder if Lavana could've once been a human who became corrupted by the demonic power, possibly enhancing her seemingly sadistic and scary nature, the entrance doors of the resort had opened up to let Shelly's group see that someone was coming into the guild. Lucy and Sting did not know who this person was while Rogue and Shelly both knew who they were, and the other people at the table just looked curious about what would happen. Shelly got up out of her chair while she seemed happy to greet this person, really glad that they had run into each other again. It had been a long time since they crossed paths, and there was a plot twist.

This girl had long black hair that fell to her hips, having a cute purple bow on the left side of her head, and her eyes were violet. Her skin was fair while she wore a purple T-shirt with some black pants to match with the amethyst purple flat shoes that she wore, and this girl also had purple bracelets on both of her wrists. She was known as Melinda Yuuma, with her last name having the meaning of "evening daze" to kinda say how she was the Darkness Demon Slayer who lived in the eerie town of Lavender, and the violet-eyed girl crossed paths with Shelly when the stern woman went into Lavender Town's seven-story tower to find a treasure chest that a client had lost in there.

Rogue and Rufus remembered Melinda from when she was in the guild of Sabertooth last year, but Sting, Orga, and Yukino did not pay much attention to her. That was mainly due to the fact that she never showed off her demonic powers at all, keeping her true colors unknown from anyone that might see her as a threat, and Melinda ended up walking out of Sabertooth by her own decision. Jiemma never saw how powerful she could be, since she refused to fight in last year's Grand Magic Games, but let's just say that Melinda saw Jiemma get killed by Shelly in Lavender Town. The strict guild master was now dead, but his death occurred in August of the previous year.

When Melinda noticed that Lucy was standing behind Shelly, the demon slayer of darkness just had to smile at her fashion choice for the day. The blonde mage wore an orange top with some blue jean shorts, and she also wore some yellow flat shoes. Lucy's hair was down while she looked pretty beautiful, as Sting gave her a lovely kiss on the lips for a moment to make her blush a light shade of pink, and Melinda gave Shelly a happy hug to show that this was a great reunion. It was also a great time to introduce Melinda to Lucy, and the former member of Sabertooth kept hugging Shelly while she told her that she could now use toxic spells from Poison Demon Slayer Magic.

Upon hearing that Melinda had a type of magic that sounded eerily familiar, Lucy and Sting both gasped in shock while their minds went back to the day that they fought Janine in the town of Fuchsia. They thought that she had been dead, but it seems like Melinda finished her off. Lucy's plant attacks were not so powerful back then, especially not strong enough to where she could kill an opponent while being at a type disadvantage, so it was good that one bad demon slayer had been taken down. It was kind of like Melinda finished what Lucy started, and the former had sensed large vibrations from the latter's spells for the past few days. Still, why was Melinda here at Sabertooth?

"Not only have I gotten to see my old friends, but I get to see the famous Lucy Heartfilia from Fairy Tail as well! That is so totally groovy, especially with the fact that she's the Plant Demon Slayer that the other demon slayers have been chatting about, and I also heard that she ate some demonic winds in a totally gnarly battle with Skyla! Man, you are totally tubular! Anyway, that's not why I came here. Shelly and the cool gang, I'm here to wish you all good luck at the Grand Magic Games coming up! Make Sabertooth win this time, and be chilled out while you're fired up as well!" Melinda told Lucy and the others in an excited and cheerful tone, glad to see that they were all doing well.

As Melinda had curiosity in her violet eyes while wondering why Minerva was not here, though, Shelly replied in a confident tone, "I was feeling pretty bad this morning, since I lost in a battle yesterday. However, my confidence and positive energy have gone back up because of how the others are going to help me out when they feel like their assistance is needed. Talking about my issues with them has pulled me out of that sandy pit of despair, and I'm ready to win. No matter who our enemies will be, I'll make sure that they regret seeing my level of power. They will also see that Team Sabertooth is fully trained, and everyone will see us take home the golden trophy."

The Grand Magic Games were full of excitement while they would soon be coming up, the ambition making Shelly jump up for joy, but the black-haired woman did not count on her towel becoming undone. The cotton fabric left her body while it fell to the floor, letting everyone see Shelly's body in all of its glory, and Rogue actually blushed deep red while the sexiness of Shelly had broken his calm demeanor. The shadow dragon slayer got to look at Shelly's beautiful rear for a few moments, before she turned around while not realizing that she was now exposing her frontal parts of beauty to Rogue. Orga and Rufus also couldn't stop staring, much to the embarrassment of Yukino, Carla, and Wendy.

Shelly simply walked away while not even knowing that her wounds had now fully healed to look like she had tiger stripes on her skin, but they would soon fade away. Lucy and Sting did not pay much attention to what just happened, since they gave parting hugs to Wendy, and the sky dragon slayer let her friends know that they'd possibly see her on one of Fairy Tail's competing teams. Lucy told Wendy to do her best, looking confident about how fun it would be for them to have a battle, and Carla also said goodbye while not paying attention to Lector saying that she was his sweet love. The two girls quickly left the guild of Sabertooth, and they were clearly headed back to the Fairy Tail guild.

Sting gave Lucy another kiss on the lips while having his arms around her waist, and he broke that soft kiss for a moment while smiling happily. He let her know that Yukino would be the guild master for Team Sabertooth during this year's Grand Magic Games, and Sting knew that Lucy would do her best. Lucy's thoughts went from the demon slayers to the fact that she would have to face the fairies once again. She hadn't seen any of them in quite a while, with the sole exception of Wendy, and Lucy would definitely show Natsu and Lisanna that she was no longer caring about love. Unlike those two, she was going to fight smart instead of fighting hard.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 16? Did you like it? Sorry for not mentioning Sting's new moves, but they shall show up in the Grand Magic Games. This chapter was also meant to develop Shelly's character, by the way. There will be lots of romance, friendships, conflicts, battles, and shockers in this next arc as well! The Fairy Tail may also be quite a surprise as well, and one alliance shall be tested. Also, do you think I should go through with that theory about Lavana being Minerva? Standby for the update, and Happy Valentine's Day!<strong>


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Relationships! Alliances! Friendships! Crocus! Kaboom!<strong>

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><p>After the next few weeks had gone by, all of the guilds in Fiore had found out the exciting news about what would be happening this year. They would be able to participate in the Grand Magic Games, the annual tournament that would decide the best guild in Fiore, and it would certainly be carefully watched over by the organization that created it. They didn't want anything like the Eclipse Project taking place this year, and the castle had now been off-limits for any tourists in the capital of Fiore. After all, it would not be good for any people like Lucy and Yukino to be arrested for the sole purpose of opening the Eclipse Gate because of false claims that were told to Princess Hisui E. Fiore.<p>

Team Sabertooth had arrived in Crocus on the day of the preliminary round that would decide the eight teams that got to participate in the real competition tomorrow, and Lucy had a happy smile on her face. Upon seeing the many flowerbeds and flower shops on a street that the team was walking down on their way to the inn that was located in the Crocus Gardens, she ran over to a flower pot that had red roses growing in the soil. Lucy sniffed them deeply to take in their wonderful aroma, letting out a blissful sigh from the sweet scent, and she definitely that a spell involving roses would have to be made at some point in her life.

She had always loved being around flowers, and the ones in Crocus had been handled with care every day. The roses always smelled really nice, and many other flowers were in the parks and meadows of the city. Crocus was a very beautiful place, and it also had some of the finest foods in Fiore. Lucy had remembered how the food tasted so great last year, and it would taste even better when Sabertooth won the tournament. She planned to win for her new guild, and hopefully end up beating Fairy Tail. Taking this year's trophy from their hands would really make Lucy feel the joys of redemption, and she also wanted to kiss Sting to get another lovely prize of victory.

After all, Lucy had been wanting to really show Fairy Tail how she was so much stronger than her past self. She had thought back to all the times that Natsu had said she was so weak, and yet she had actually been the one to turn the tables on him. She wanted to make that rude jerk pay for what he had done to her, and Lucy really hated his attitude. She did not even want to talk with him during a fight, since all he would get from her was a fist to his mouth. She was going to show off her strength, and impress Sting. He was the reason why she had worked so hard, and the cafes in Crocus made her smile while knowing that this was one of the best cities for romantic dates to take place.

The fact that Lucy and Sting could go out on dates in the beautiful city of Crocus was a pretty nice bonus that made them glad to also have a romantic motive in mind while they would try to win the Grand Magic Games, but Lucy also looked a bit displeased at the thought of many fan girls fawning over her boyfriend. A copious amount amount of guys could try to hit on Lucy as well, even though she'd openly refuse them because she was very loyal to Sting, but she had to really ignore thoughts of pests while her focus would mainly be on winning fights and having fun. As she smiled softly at her boyfriend, Sting spoke up.

"All right, guys. Don't have any doubts about entering the tournament, since we'll be the ones who win it! Last year may have been the year that kind of wrecked our rep of being honorable champions, since Minerva was so brutal to Lucy, but my girlfriend's current circumstances with Fairy Tail and our determination will make everyone see that we aren't a bunch of jerks! Also, we have gotten rid of Jiemma's cruel ways. He almost killed Lector, so let's win while celebrating about how Jiemma's dead." Sting explained in a confident manner, smiling proudly while putting his hand into the air to create some kind of team gesture.

Shelly added in a kind tone, having a sense of calmness in her aqua blue eyes while she smiled about something that was crucial, "To make things even better for the prospect of winning, there is a pretty low chance that any of the other demon slayers in Fiore would take part in a little tournament like this. Most of them are used to battling each other, anyway, and some of those people look down on others who aren't like them. I'm sure that Lavana would not even want to battle a guy like Natsu Dragneel, since her flames could possibly even burn down the whole Domus Flau. In other words, we're in quite a calm tournament."

Everyone else touched Sting's hand, really ready to win this year, and they all knew that they had to bring their best efforts on to the battlefield. After all, the Grand Magic Games were known for their tricky events and match-ups in battles that almost seemed completely unfair. Sting had even thought of Yukino's battle against Kagura to be an unfair pairing, since Yukino's opponent had a sword that sliced through one of her strongest Celestial Spirits while the sword itself wasn't even unsheathed at the time. That match was quite a sight to see, really, and Yukino was quite lucky that she could still live out the rest of her life.

Despite any planning that Team Sabertooth would be doing, they also knew that the chances of winning everything easily like a bunch of gods was very slim. The battles would prove to be somewhat difficult, even though some fights would be easy while merely being simple filler, and Sting hoped that his team would not have to go up against Fairy Tail on the very first day. Not only would that be a shocker, but the white dragon slayer did not want anyone to see Sabertooth's most crucial moves on the first day. Those could possibly be saved for the fifth day, which was when the survival tournament would have to transpire.

Orga was about to volunteer for the position of being the reserve member of the team, since that person would simply watch while the five main members of the team would do most of the competing in the Grand Magic Games, but the Lightning God Slayer was a bit shocked to see Sting calmly tell him that he'd get what was best for the team. It did seem to be a great move to not have Orga compete, since Jura Neekis had taken him out with one strike last year, and Sting saw that to rival his own embarrassing incident that occurred last year. Even though he was glad to get Lector back, the soft laughs behind his back were annoying.

Lucy had looked a bit disappointed from hearing Sting say that he did not want Orga to participate for most of the tournament, and the blonde mage had to wonder about why her boyfriend softly smiled while saying those words . If he thought that Orga's skills weren't up to par with everyone else's, then did he have the confidence about everyone else doing well? Rufus had even remembered how Gray Fullbuster beat him in the fight that they had in the library, and that made him look slightly nervous about this. The members of Team Sabertooth did not want history to repeat itself in the worst ways, that's for sure.

Sting had even remembered how he lost to Natsu, forfeited in the Chariot event, and how he surrendered on the final day. He had caused Sabertooth to lose last year, breaking their winning streak, and the white dragon slayer knew that Fairy Tail had strong people in their guild. However, he also knew that he wasn't going to be manipulated by Minerva this year. Since she was gone, he could freely make his own decisions. He couldn't let Lucy down, though, since she was counting on him as well. Sting would be the team's leader this time, not having to deal with Minerva pissing people off, and that was a good role for him to take.

Lucy always stuck to the belief that her smart lover could do anything that he put his mind to, and Lucy knew that Sting was really strong. Not only did he help her give Desertia one hell of a good fight in the Haruba Desert, but Sting was also deserving of credit for the time that he pushed Janine back a few feet in a great attempt for Lucy's attack to be in perfect alignment with her opponent. The blue-eyed male was really good at making strategies, despite the fact that he and Lucy lost against Heidi because she was far too crazy with her lightning, and Sting's smarts would be very helpful to the team that wanted redemption.

Sting had taken notice of the fact that Lucy did not have any new spells at her disposal, even though a few weeks had gone by since the day that Shelly spoke of how she and Lavana became enemies, and Sting knew that his sweet girlfriend could not just rely on her previous moves. She had also not used her Plant Demon Slayer Magic for quite some time now, since the Wind Demon Slayer Magic was getting to be used more often, and this was a perfect chance to see if Lucy's first type of magic would end up showing off some new abilities. In fact, it would really be no surprise if she could even create vegetables or fruit.

Sting also decided that this was the perfect time for him and Lucy to spend some quality time together, since this was the day before the main tournament would begin, and this time could be used for things like sightseeing or simply having a date at the cafe. Sting kindly told the team that they could now go off to do whatever they felt like doing, before running off with Lucy and Lector, so everyone else simply went off on their own. While Rogue planned to stay by Shelly's side, since him and Frosch liked to be around her, the shadow dragon slayer's nose also picked up on the familiar scents of certain people coming into the city.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile...<strong>

The two teams representing the Fairy Tail guild had entered into Crocus, determined to keep their great title as the best guild in Fiore, and some of the townspeople were happy to see them. Fairy Tail's great victories in the battles and events of last year's Grand Magic Games had made them get quite a lot of fans, with many girls loving the fact that Gray had a tendency to take off his shirt before fighting someone, and many guys were hoping to see Erza Scarlet requip into an armor that showed off lots of cleavage. They also wanted to see Mira in a sexy bikini as well, since she was one of the cutest models in Fiore, and she also had the nicest booty in the Fairy Tail guild.

Makarov was confident that his teams could succeed in whatever the Grand Magic Games threw at them as well, since most of the people in Fairy Tail surpassed his expectations last year, but let's just say that the way that he organized the teams could cause a bit of trouble. Team Fairy Tail A consisted of Natsu, Lisanna, Erza, Cana, and Mira, which was the alliance that initially had all of its members keeping Natsu's secret affair from reaching the ears of Lucy, and this was the first team where Gray would not be working with Natsu at any time. Mira and Erza would be on the same team, even though their opinions about Natsu's affair would clash. Tension could be pretty bad, right?

Team Fairy Tail B consisted of Gray, Juvia, Wendy, Gajeel, Laxus, and Jellal. Even though only five members could really be the actual team in the Grand Magic Games, Juvia lovingly hugged Gray as she let him know that the team's reserve member loved him very much. She could only participate when one of the other members needed to be swapped out because of injuries or other reasons, but Juvia had joy in her blue eyes while being totally fine with it. Not only would she get to see Gray fight while taking his shirt off, but the blue-haired woman would make the ice mage happy by making this team be the alliance that was on Lucy's side. They all cared about how she felt, you know.

After all, both of the teams knew that Sabertooth would be in the Grand Magic Games this year. People like Cana and Wendy had different reasons for wanting to Lucy, whether it was to try and make amends with her or simply wish good luck to her team, but there were people like Natsu and Lisanna who had their respective motives of moving past Lucy and wanting to keep her name out of their love life. Erza and Mira would argue about which couple was actually more deserving of love, based on how the relationships had been formed, and Team Fairy Tail A had initially been quite a solid alliance. This competition would put it to the test, for sure, and the alliance could crumble.

The matter of Lucy would truly make the two Fairy Tail teams act like two opposing alliances, since Gray and Juvia did not like the way that Natsu and Lisanna would speak so rudely about the blonde girl that had gotten her heart crushed by the fire dragon slayer, and there could even be friction within the teams. Cana did want to make up with Lucy, but how would Erza and the others react to that? She might be seen as a traitor for trying to make up with the girl who Lisanna did not like, and Mira would keep using Cana's emotions to make her be swayed away from what Natsu and Lisanna wanted. Really, this team could be in trouble. They would certainly not be working together to win, as it seemed.

Natsu exclaimed in a fierce tone while looking totally fired up, before the other half of his speech would be devoted to his sweet lover, "All right, guys! This is the year where we won't have to deal with those cheating jerks from Raven Tail, and there won't be some war with the dragons that also decides to fate of the world! We will win this competition, and take down Lucy's team from Sabertooth! After all, her beauty cannot compare to that of my sweet Lisanna. My white-haired angel will help me beat down that team of idiots, and we'll happily be kissing while the golden trophy is ours. Lisanna and I will have many days of romance, and we'll show Lucy that she's no longer needed in our lives."

Gray replied calmly while having an annoyed look on his face while tension was in his dark blue eyes, as he folded his arms, "You two can have romance in almost every part of the world, but it seems like you keep focusing on Lucy. If she's no longer needed in your lives, stop talking about her like she's constantly in your thoughts. You contradict yourself a lot, flame-brain, and don't forget that Lucy is a Plant Demon Slayer. She's on a whole other level that's far above yours, and don't act like demon slayers are weak. Not only did Lucy kick your butt, but even a fiery woman named Lavana could wipe the floor with you in a matter of seconds. Supposedly, she's the best mage wielding fire."

The fire dragon slayer could only start laughing at the fact that someone else could use flames that were fiercer than his own, even though a Fire God Slayer named Zancrow had nearly mopped the floor with him in their battle that took place on Tenrou Island, and Wendy could only sigh while looking glad at the fact that the two feuding boys were not on the same team. Aside from the fact that Natsu was being pretty overconfident right now, the sky dragon slayer did not forget about Shelly's story. Lavana had two types of magic at her disposal, both of them being really powerful as well, so she was not exactly someone to really be taken lightly. She was pretty, but also painful.

As Makarov gave both teams the permission to now break apart while he would get everything set up at the inn, Wendy could only think about how she had recently found a book in Fairy Tail's library that pertained to Fire Magic. The contents of the recently published book had mentioned Lavana Kasai to be the Fire Demon Slayer that went on many arduous jobs without getting one wound on her body, as her flames were also powerful enough to incinerate anything in her path, and the evil woman's powers of the stars were also at a very high level. She could also take out enemies with ease, even having moves that were very deadly, and Lavana seemed like a good rival for Natsu.

Wendy and Carla did not know where they would start off their revisit of Crocus, wanting to see if anything had changed since last year, but the young girl with blue hair sniffed the air for a few moments to detect that her best friend's team was already in the city. Wendy had picked up on Lucy's scent, which made her silently cheer from the fact that Natsu just ran off with Lisanna to possibly go make out with her, and she also wondered if Shelly's groovy friend Melinda came to Crocus for the sake of seeing her old teammates try to win. It was always good to have support from friends, especially when Shelly might get annoyed from crossing into Lucy's drama with Fairy Tail.

Even though Shelly was the fifth-best demon with tons of experience, Wendy gave her new friend the advice of getting more speed in a race by making ice to slide on. Despite the fact of that being a cheap move to use, Wendy was also king enough to suggest that Shelly create bouncy bubbles for propelling herself into the air. Not only would that help her evade attacks on the ground, but the laws of physics would allow upcoming attacks to gain power on their descent down towards whoever their target would be. Not all spells were meant to be flashy attacks, and assist spells that seemed childish or silly could really have great uses. In fact, they could even save lives.

While the brown-eyed girl turned away from the other Fairy Tail mages to go explore the city with Carla, she was suddenly staring up at a woman who had wavy red hair that reached down to her waist. She also had scarlet red eyes while seeming to be around the same age as Shelly, and her skin was fair. She wore a fashionable red top to go well with the black stockings on her legs, and this woman also had on some blood red flat shoes as well. She gave Wendy a condescending look for a few seconds, before quickly vanishing in a red flame that engulfed her. Wendy was curious about what she had just seen, and that woman was weird. (If you've read this far into the story, you might realize who that person is.)

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, in a grassy park...<strong>

Sting had taken Lucy to a grassy park in Crocus that looked very beautiful with the fancy fountain on the grass while pink roses were planted around it, as yellow butterflies gently fluttered through the clean air of this city, and this would somewhat be like a date. Not only would get to have some fun with Lucy on this fine day, but there was also a nearby concession stand that sold pizzas as well. Eating was one thing that the white dragon slayer liked to do with his sweet lover, since there was so much good food in Fiore, and Sting also came here with Lucy to see if her first type of magic would show off any new skills that were previously dormant. If so, then what were their effects?

This grassy park also made Lucy smile at the fact that she could test out her Plant Demon Slayer Magic in this area, despite the fact that it would be bad to bring ruin to such a beautiful place, and she did not know of any new spells appearing in her mind. She did not create any new moves, nor did any new powers awaken, so the blonde girl really had to wonder if she couldn't make her plant attacks become stronger. Most of them were already quite powerful, which got even better with the first spell's chain effect, but Lucy never knew if they were up to the par with the great spells of Heidi. After all, she was the Lightning Demon Slayer who beat down Lucy with the skills of a real expert.

Even though those two could possibly never have their paths cross again, Lucy still wanted to become more like an expert with her magic. Simple attacks were just not enough, and some flashy effects or assist spells would be needed. Lucy could not really think of any new skills that she would need right now, though, so Sting's idea of training would have to be put on hold for a bit. Just like with the process of growing a tree, patience was highly needed. Rushing anything was never good, only leading to possible careless mistakes being made, and Lucy did not like to make mistakes. Dating Natsu had been one of them, though, but at least she found a guy who was better than him in every way.

Sting and Lucy were currently sitting on a park bench together while they were both glad to also be on the same team, and Lucy was glad that she would now have the chance to give Fairy Tail the payback that was coming to them. After all, Lisanna had told Natsu about her feelings on the same night that the fairies won in last year's Grand Magic Games. That was also leading to Natsu having an affair with the white-haired mage while he also got almost everyone else in the guild to be involved in his scheme of keeping his secret love from being known to Lucy. Natsu could never tell her about it himself, and he was such a coward for not having the guts to be a really honest guy.

If Sabertooth and Fairy Tail ever had the chance to face each other in a battle, Lucy really hoped that she would get to give her ex the beating that he deserved. Getting cheated on was an act of deceit that could not just slide by Lucy without her having to truly give Natsu some form of payback, and taking the victory in this year's Grand Magic Games out of his reach would be perfect karma for the fire dragon slayer. After all, he started dating Lisanna after last year's tournament. For him to get his bad karma in this year's tournament would just make things be much better than they already were. Lucy did not even know it, but her wish could end up being granted in a good way.

The blonde mage asked her boyfriend in a calm tone, even though she did look somewhat worried about creepy possibilities, "Sting, do you think that Natsu sent me all the way to the resort in an attempt to find out where it is? He does hate you, so I wouldn't put it past him to use me like a tool. Sorry if you don't like me bringing up that jerk's name, but I'm just hoping to take down Fairy Tail in this year's Grand Magic Games. Erza told me last year how the First Master named Mavis had helped Fairy Tail be propelled to victory on the final day, and I really don't end up losing against the guild of my past. That loss would just hurt me, Sting, and I want to put sand in their mouths."

The white dragon slayer replied in a confident tone while looking pretty happy, before the second half of his speech would involve him being calm, "Don't you worry your pretty little head about Natsu, Lucy. The only way to reach the resort from the invite is by the Water Warp spell, which you used on your very first time coming to the guild, so he won't find out where it is. As for taking down Fairy Tail this year, I'll just give you the advice of helping us all not overestimate our own power. That led to our downfall last year, and it caused us to lose in the battle with Heidi as well. If you want to win, bring out your best stuff like when we fought against Desertia in the Haruba Desert."

That was definitely some good advice, since Lucy knew how that battle was really intense, and she would simply have to show off a high level of power. Lucy did not want to show off too many of her skills, though, so it would be a pretty good idea for her to not use many spells. However, she could just make new ones while keeping her regular techniques unknown from her foes. That way, they would not know her simple strategy of chain-powering everything to win battles. Even though all of the damage she gave would cause her to level up like crazy, causing her to keep feeling like she was getting stronger, Lucy knew that some new tricks would truly be needed in the tournament.

Of course, she could not just come up with new spells of Plant Demon Slayer Magic. They would have to be moves that truly could be great, not just things that could create green blasts of energy, and it could be tough to grow grassy plants on a sandy battlefield while the hot sun would be shining. Not only could those leafy plants just burn up, but they could also backfire on Lucy. That would not be good in fights, instead prove to really be embarrassing, and Lucy had to think about how she could create plants in a place where there would be no trees or roots to help her summon them. This type of magic was quite conditional, and those conditions had to be met for the spells to work.

Even if there were trees in the Domus Flau, however, the second issue with using Plant Demon Slayer Magic was the sandy battlefield. Lucy did not have Desertia's ability to change the terrain, which could've allowed Lucy to change that sand into fertile soil, so this would be tricky. Still, there was no need for her to worry while Sting and Lector would be at her side. The white dragon slayer gave Lucy an affectionate hug to make her feel calm, and she blushed a light shade of pink from feeling his warm hands wrap around her waist. Sting also gave Lucy a kiss on the lips as well, making her sigh happily while she loved his kisses, and things only got better from this point on.

Lucy was kissing back while relaxing her body on the bench, locked in Sting's loving embrace, and she let out a soft gasp while feeling his left hand go down to touch her black miniskirt. He would be a gentle guy, however, and Sting try to cross any boundaries without Lucy's approval. He also wouldn't try to touch her in any weird places at this stage in their relationship, especially not in a public place like a park, and Sting's right hand was rubbing the midway point between Lucy's back and her nice rear. She was wearing a cute white top that looked totally gorgeous on her, but when did Lucy ever not look stylish? She loved to be fashionable, and the clothes in Sabertooth's shopping mall were quite fancy.

Her hair was down while it looked beautiful as always, and Lucy also wore some black flat shoes as well. She broke the kiss with her sweet partner, having joy in her cocoa brown eyes while locking them with his charming blue ones, and both of the mages held hands while they sat down on the bench together. Lucy loved being in the park with Sting, as cute butterflies flew past the cute couple while they both blushed with joy, and things got even better when Sting pulled a playful little sneak attack by tickling Lucy's stomach. She was giggling happily while she couldn't see it coming, and the blonde girl ran her fingers through Sting's awesome hair while she loved how he tickled her.

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><p><strong>Elsewhere, outside of a cafe...<strong>

Rogue and Frosch were sitting at a white patio table with Shelly while they were outside of a fancy cafe, and all three members from the guild of Sabertooth were enjoying some sugary coffee. Frosch simply used the spoon to drink his coffee while Rogue simply sipped his coffee, and Shelly was just waiting for her coffee to get slightly cooled. She could've easily just used her Ice Demon Slayer Magic to cool it down, but the cold temperature of her ice would possibly end up making her coffee be a bit too cold. She did not like to drink anything cold, not even soda, and the black-haired woman could also make her water become scalding hot as well to boil things. Quite hot, right?

This was initially going to be a lovely date between Rogue and Shelly, since the two of them went on many missions together, and Shelly had been the reason why Sting was forced to team up with other guild members on jobs. She stole Rogue's attention away from Sting, leaving the white dragon slayer to be without his shadowy counterpart, and Shelly could easily freeze Sting in a statue of glacial ice to shut him up if he tried making a complaint towards her. The two of them were going to have a nice date, but they were both so famous that people kept taking pictures with them or asking to have autographs signed. The price of fame was simply the rights of privacy, you know.

Many girls kept wanting to take pictures with the handsome Rogue, but they also took great interest in Shelly as well. She had been known as the fashion guru of the Sabertooth guild, changing the clothing style to be much fancier than the tastes of Minerva Orlando, and Shelly Izumi was also the famous treasure hunter. Her exploits had been noticed by many people in Fiore, bringing jealously to Ivan Dreyar from the guild of Raven Tail, and it was said that Shelly held the world record for finding the most treasure chests in one week. She found 77 of them on one solo mission to a place known as Fortune Ravine, and that helped Sabertooth get really rich in only one day.

As Shelly got up out of her chair to stretch, slightly pulling down her blue midriff top that went well with her blue jeans, her aqua blue eyes caught sight of a certain scarlet-haired woman that simply walked by the table. Erza was now wearing the pink kimono that she wore on the fifth day of last year's Grand Magic Games, as her hair was tied back into a long ponytail as well, and she stopped for a moment from sensing the magical power of Shelly. It was quite tremendous, which was to be expected from a demon slayer of a high rank like the fifth-best, and Erza had actually heard rumors of a certain woman taking Minerva's place in the Sabertooth guild. Really, wasn't this encounter kind of weird?

Shelly could also sense some power emanating from the brown-eyed woman, as she also heard how Erza wiped the floor with Minerva on the final day of the Grand Magic Games, but she only scoffed a bit while knowing that using a godly armor that could bend the laws of magic was almost like a huge cheat to victory. Also, she saw Minerva as being a weakling for getting sadistic enough to the point where she toyed around with Erza and caused her own defeat by provoking Fairy Tail. Shelly did control water, but she was smart enough to not torture people because that would piss off their friends. It was better to simply end things fast, instead of wasting time to goof around.

Erza turned around slowly to ask Shelly in a calm manner while smiling a bit, before her speech would sound quite arrogant, "You are the treasure hunter named Shelly Izumi, are you not? It's a bit shocking to see that someone so powerful like you is in the guild of Sabertooth, but I can guess that you've got your reasons for that. Don't think of trying to hurt any of our guild's members in any of the events, since you'll pick the wrong guild to anger, and Minerva made that mistake with me last year. She failed against my Nakagami Armor, which destroyed the space around her attacks as well, so you would be wise to not suffer a one-hit knock out from me as well."

The black-haired woman replied in a stern tone, before some parts of Erza's little speech made her laugh, "I'll kindly ask you to not send any insults my way, fairy swine, and I am far different from Minerva. After all, she just made a bunch of stupid mistakes. Also, resorting to godly armor that's full of cheats is simply telling me that you couldn't win under normal conditions. You beat weak people like Minerva and Kagura, and that makes you think that you're hot stuff? Erza, you should come back and boast when you've tied in a battle with Desertia Sunaarashi like how Lucy Heartfilia managed to do, then you may boast. For now, though, I'm still trying to hold in my urge to laugh."

Rogue sighed a bit while hoping that these two women would not start fighting before the preliminary round had even begun, since fighting outside of that event or having brawls outside of the main tournament was strictly prohibited. Anyone caught sparring or using any destructive spells would be disqualified, along with the other members of their team, and it would be bad to fail before anything had even begun. Frosch smiled while looking carefree at how Shelly seemed so calm, which was a nice change from how she felt miserable from losing to Desertia in a battle, and her high level of intelligence could even help her ice down a fiery guy like Natsu Dragneel.

As Erza and Shelly were about to attack respectively with a metal sword and an icy sword, the sound of a fiery explosion made them put their new conflict aside. The two women could see clouds of scarlet red smoke coming from what appeared to be a bar, and the place proceeded to be decimated in many miniature blood red blasts of Fire Demon Slayer Magic because of the copious amount of flames around the damaged structure. Whoever was trying to cause trouble on the first day, their blasts and fiery explosion sent a very large heat wave through the town for a few moments. The heat did not burn anything, as its master controlled it to not be so reckless before the games even begun, but the heat kept Shelly's cup of coffee from cooling down while it was still on the white patio table.

Shelly and Erza both looked shocked at the level of power that they sensed from the person who used that fiery spell, with the scarlet-haired mage remembering that this volcanic heat last crossed paths with her in the Magma Cavern, and Shelly did not want to confirm her thoughts about who it could be. She knew that some of the other demon slayers would try to pick fights with her, so they'd never be the casual villains to destroy another place for the sake of getting her attention. Erza was brought back to the memories of pain from the fiery attacks that melted her armors while burning her skin as well, and let's just say that both girls did not want to know that this was Lavana Kasai's way of giving them a simple "Hello".

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 17? Did you like it? Sorry if this chapter was short, but the next ones will be longer. The teams have now arrived in Crocus, but there shall be a twist about the preliminary event. There will also be StiCy and NaLu in the next chapter as well, since Natsu may get shaken from seeing Lucy kiss his biggest rival. As for Lavana, she will get promoted from a background role as the tournament goes on. She also has a great rep with crowds, even though she's evil, so what happens next? Standby for the update!<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Grand Magic Games, Day 1<strong>

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><p>The following day, Lucy and Sting were at a coffee shop in Crocus to discuss the events that had transpired yesterday. This was also the first day of the Grand Magic Games, and Sabertooth had been informed that they were one of the eight teams left standing in the competition. All of the team's members were lucky to have not been anywhere near the explosive flames that were created by Lavana, since the smallest flames from the woman with scarlet red eyes could burst into blasts or blazes, but Lucy was not looking all that proud to have technically passed the preliminary round. She felt pretty bad from seeing the town get wrecked yesterday, even though the sponsors used magic to restore the town to its natural state while effacing the flames, but Lucy was shocked to see that the other teams ran off in fear from a certain person.<p>

She had seen several people run past the grassy park in a total stampede, which really surprised Lucy and Sting, and those mages from many guilds looked like they were scared of something like it had been a horror movie. Lucy and her boyfriend also heard the fiery explosions, thinking that it was just Natsu being a dense idiot like always, but they also thought that the sight of him and Lisanna kissing would be enough to make people flee. After all, not everyone could find a certain couple to be cute. Besides, now that Lucy thought about it, the fire dragon slayer had really been a horrible kisser. He could press his lips against a girl, but Natsu used to kiss and suck on Lucy's lips like he was a plunger.

The blonde girl did not even know that Natsu was surprised to see the powerful flames as well, their amount of fiery energy being in a class that was far above his own, and that was the power of the great Lavana. The sponsors had seen everything that transpired on the previous day, not knowing that Lavana was the main cause of it, but they couldn't just cancel the Grand Magic Games before they had even started. After all, the organization holding this event would know that many of the spectators would be mad to find out that their tickets would not come with any refunds of jewels if the tournament had to be cancelled. That would cause riots of rage, for sure.

However, Lucy also knew that the sponsors would not disappoint the remaining guilds that were seeking to be the best in Fiore. This tournament had to go on from its normal format, regardless of any interruptions or drama that might be caused, and Lucy hoped that she would be okay. After all, last year had been pretty scary for her. She was nearly killed by Minerva Orlando in the Naval Battle, arrested because of everything surrounding the Eclipse Project, and the aftermath of everything had left her pretty shaken up. Lucy even had nightmares about Minerva last year, and she always ended up drowning in cold water.

She did not want to be scared of the fact that some battles could get really fierce, like her battle against Flare Corona last year, and Lucy hoped that her skills would keep her from being in any bad situations. She knew that some new spells could come in handy while the tournament would be going on, so they simply had to be made. Lucy kept having thoughts about what her new moves would be while she drank some of her white mocha frappuccino, loving the chocolate drink meet with her tongue. The sweet taste and hot temperature of her coffee were strong enough to snap Lucy out of her thoughts, bringing her back to reality, and she blinked her cocoa brown eyes a few times while Sting had been snapping his fingers in front of her face to see if she would still be in a daze.

"Lucy, quit staring out into space like that! I was telling you that there's nothing to worry about, and you just need to realize that all of those people were probably just fleeing in fear from seeing that somebody got pissed off. Those flames did seem to be at a level of power that was higher than what Natsu could create, but I'm sure that your winds could've blown them away with ease." Sting told her in a calm tone while smiling a bit, touching her left hand with his left hand, and he also drank some hot chocolate with whip cream in it to get himself hyped up for the first day of the tournament.

The blonde girl replied in a somewhat down manner, having a bit of fear in her brown eyes while the magical power of those flames had been off the charts, "I know that it's not good to worry, Sting, but those were some pretty strong flames. Natsu definitely did not have that kind of heat as well, and I know that it would be crazy to think that the Fire Demon Slayer named Lavana is here. She wouldn't want to fight Shelly in the Grand Magic Games, since they would probably have a fight to death, and killing isn't allowed. I just hope that no one will be trying to kill me, or nullify my magic in any of the battles that come up."

He also let Lucy know that she was not alone in this, and that they would be taking on this tournament together. He did not want her to be so fearful about having to possibly run into the person who created those raging flames that made people head for the hills, and Sting still wondered if that person's team was kicked out of Crocus. Whether they were forced to be gone or still stuck around, the white dragon slayer smiled while betting that he could wipe the floor with them in a matter of minutes. He also bet that Lucy could mop the floor with that raging guy or girl as well, since she really could put up a pretty good fight.

Her spells were different from ordinary ones, since the Plant Demon Slayer Magic could create plants that really helped Lucy succeed on certain jobs, and they also had very interesting effects. The Wind Demon Slayer Magic was also quite useful to have around, simply making powerful moves from the winds, and Lucy could use her wind power to fly through the air. She could use the vines from her plants to jump up quite high, which could help her send down attacks from the sky, but Lucy would have to create good spells while also having the proper timing to follow up with some more attacks that could cause massive damage.

Sting assured her that everything would end up being okay, and Lucy knew that she could trust him. There were never any doubts about anything, especially when it came to Sting's speeches of confidence being able to really get Lucy happy, and she smiled happily while knowing his words were definitely encouraging. If the spells were created by her thoughts, then maybe she could think up a few clever ideas to really show those fancy people that something simple like plants could be a total threat. Using flowers as a weapon in Crocus would be kind of strange to see, but it could also be pretty cool. After all, flowers could be deadly.

Lucy was also hoping to show off her new powers to the people who had been total liars to her, just because they thought that she would freak out or start crying over the fact that Natsu had cheated on her, and they might all be really shocked to see how far she had come. Lucy did end up fighting evenly with some of the spells that were cast by Desertia in the Haruba Desert, so Lucy would simply have to fight like a demon slayer. She would not just be doing this for the guild of Sabertooth, since she and Shelly would also be representing the demon slayers, so Lucy really did have quite a big rep that she had to live up to.

The first day of the Grand Magic Games would be starting at 8:30 in the morning, and the current time was 8:10 in the morning. Lucy thanked Sting for his inspiring speech by giving him a soft kiss on the lips, and she ran out of the coffee shop with her white mocha frappuccino in her left hand. Sting also ran after her with the cup of hot chocolate in his hand, happy to have gotten that sweet kiss from his hot girlfriend, and Sting was definitely going to return the favor to her. He had also wanted to see Lucy fight, showing everyone the results of her training with him, and Sting knew that Lucy would not let him down.

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><p><strong>15 minutes later...<strong>

Sting watched his girlfriend quickly check her appearance in the reflection of a glass window nearby, and he smiled while his blue eyes scanned her from head to toe. She wore a light pink shirt with a red miniskirt to match, and her strawberry pink high heels made her look even more appealing. Lucy also had a pink bow in her hair, and she giggled when she turned to face Sting. Her beautiful blonde hair was also tied into a ponytail on the right side of her head, and Lucy knew that she had to look her best while being determined to do her best as well. After all, fashion and fierceness could go together in a state of harmony.

Lucy also had to wonder if Shelly would change her outfit for the first day or just wear her normal clothes, since she was the main person responsible for introducing her brown-eyed friend to the fashion trends on the side of Fiore where the Sabertooth guild resided, but fashion did not really matter right now. Even if the black-haired woman did not change her clothes at all, her ice could still freeze anyone while the pressure of her water would drown anybody who was unlucky enough to be the opponent of Shelly. In fact, she could probably even beat Gray Fullbuster and Lyon Vastia with only her cool powers of ice.

It was also kind of nice how the Darkness Demon Slayer named Melinda had come to wish good luck to her old friends in the Sabertooth guild, as Lucy did not even know that the groovy girl would be watching from the booth where Team Sabertooth would be at, and Lucy smiled softly while she hoped to at least not be the weakest demon slayer of them all. She never tried to kill any of them, despite the fact that her spells were not strong enough to kill girls who had developed their durability to other types of magic, and Lucy also did not find it all that fun to really have blood on her hands. Murder was a bad thing to do, you know.

The Grand Magic Games were always quite exciting, even without the fact that there would be nothing like the Eclipse Project or people from the future involved in them, and it was possible that this year's tournament would just be quite simple. Of course, even if every day would just be consisting of an event and a battle, drama would still find ways to get into the mix. That's where the matter of Fairy Tail would come in, since people like Erza and Natsu would have their conflicts with Lucy, but she had every right to leave the guild that made her so incredibly hurt. It was not her fault that she fell for a scheming idiot, really.

She and Erza did not fight on their last encounter, which was on the day that came to the Fairy Tail guild to tell that cheating jerk named Natsu that they had officially broken up, so it would be quite interesting to see if Lucy's plants and wind could be a good match for Erza's armors and weapons. The scarlet-haired woman did not have any specific armors to deal with wither of Lucy's two demonic types of magic, and Lavana proved that a demon slayer could break through armor with ease. Erza would look forward to fighting both of the girls, even though she and her godly ways could end up getting beaten down in a few seconds.

"You always look great, no matter what. If you get chosen to battle today, Lector and I will cheer for you like crazy! I can already tell that you're going to win, no matter who your opponent is or what the event is. Just give it everything that you've got, and deliver a grand slam of moves down on the other teams! Keep your attitude high, and there's no way that you'll go down! You can totally do it, Lucy, and we'll start off our win streak!" The white dragon slayer told her with a smile on his face, before grinning confidently and giving his girlfriend a thumbs-up while winking with his right eye.

"Thank you, Sting! I'm going to compete today for Sabertooth, and I'm going to win for both of us! Sorry if I seemed totally depressed earlier, but now I really want to beat Fairy Tail because it'll make me feel like I'm stronger than my past self! I want to do good for you, Sting, and I won't lose! With you cheering me on, I know that my courage will be there. You're my inspiration, Sting. I'll cheer you on in your battles as well." She responded with strong emotions in her voice while still looking fierce and feeling confidence rising up from inside her, before the last few words that emerged from her mouth were spoken in a calm manner.

Sting understood her reasons for wanting to participate today, and he really did like that fierce look of passion and excitement in her violet eyes. He gave her a soft kiss on the lips for good luck, and she blushed a light shade of pink before returning the kiss and feeling Sting lightly wrap his arms around her waist. They certainly were a pretty cute couple, and Lucy always loved how Sting cared about her. He didn't want her to be depressed on the first day of a big competition like this, and she was not going to let her worries get in the way of her determination to make Sabertooth be the best guild in the whole country of Fiore.

Lucy's belief that she could win, combined with her determination to take Sting's advice about making new spells, caused her to end up having a few little thoughts for some new spells. They were mostly clear and vivid, giving her some nice images of how they worked, and some of them even made Lucy imagine sweet smells from flowers. She widened her eyes in shock at the sight of this happening, especially since it got the attention of some people who were passing by, and Lucy kept letting her mind be in the process of thinking up some creative thoughts while she ran to the Domus Flau with Sting.

They had managed to catch up with the other members of Team Sabertooth, looking totally ready to win today, and Lucy did not plan to lose. She knew that people could volunteer to participate in the events, but the sponsors would choose the pairings for the battles. Would Lucy be chosen to battle today, and what would the event end up being like? She was getting really psyched up for this, ready to do well for Sting, and Lucy would let her feelings blow through to him with her magic. However, would those blowing winds or strange plants be enough to really help Lucy win in any of the battles that she would be in?

As Team Sabertooth kept running towards the arena, Lucy and Sting had unknowingly passed by Lisanna. She looked a bit startled to see them all run past her at such high speeds, but then the blue-eyed girl managed to regain her composure. Both of the Fairy Tail teams were still on their way to the Domus Flau, making the white-haired mage be the first one to arrive, and she had also overheard Team Sabertooth speak of how the temporary position of guild master was now belonging to Yukino Aguria. Some people from Fairy Tail were thinking that Sting would not end up competing this year, but they were really wrong.

Even though Lisanna would gladly be on the same team as Natsu and Erza, with the three of them being a great trio that worked well together, she had doubt in her blue eyes as she wondered if her team could beat the other team from Fairy Tail. Even though Juvia could be the reserve member who would probably swap places with Wendy at some point in the Grand Magic Games, that team was a pretty solid alliance while they would also be cheering for Lucy in her battles that weren't against their team. The majority of Lisanna's team did not really support Lucy that much, so the outcome of this clash could end up being a shocker.

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><p><strong>40 minutes later...<strong>

The time had finally arrived for the inauguration of the Grand Magic Games in the year X792, and there were balloons of many colors being released into the air. Spectators filled the many rows of seats in the Domus Flau, and the guild masters were in the stadium's booths along with non-competing members of their respective guilds. The announcer and judges were in a booth near the king's booth, and Chapati Lola looked excited about the Grand Magic Games while he turned on his microphone and tested it to make sure that it was working. The previous day was full of shockers, so who could not be excited?

The smells of food were flowing through the arena, as some people were really glad that the concession stands in Crocus were able to make some great nachos this year, and even things like candy gave off sweet scents because of the fact that some mages from the town of Celadon had worked in some of the stores that were in Crocus. They used their skills with perfume to enhance the smells of things like food and candy, even making trays of brownies give off a really great aroma that made those treats seem to taste really delectable, and some workers from the concession stands were even trying to sell their merchandise while they were in the crowds with everyone else.

No one knew who the eight surviving teams would be, since there had been no preliminary event because of the fact that a certain red-haired woman used fiery flames to make her presence be known to certain people, so no one in the crowd had any signs about who they were going to root for. Some of the spectators even managed to see the great Lavana on the previous day, saying how a really lovely woman wielded powerful flames that matched her deadly beauty, and some of them even knew enough about Lavana's exploit to actually talk about her by name. She was pretty famous, all right, and not getting one wound was definitely a topic that could greatly be talked about.

She was even good enough to have her own line of clothing as well, since every demon slayer did need to find some things to do in their spare time, so Lavana could be seen as a really good designer as well. Despite the fact that many women liked her clothing, they would tend to talk about how the lacy bras and lacy panties would bring great warmth to their skin. Shelly did not even check the brand of the bras and panties that she wore, not knowing that she always felt fiery comfort from the clothing that was made by her worst enemy, and Lavana's way of using Fire Demon Slayer Magic to create clothing was pretty exceptional. Really, was that not fashion with flair and flare?

The clothes would not burn away or burst into flames, since Lavana had a great amount of control over her fiery magic, and she even had enough control over her Heavenly Demon Slayer Magic to make beautiful arrays of pink desserts for the bake shop in the town of Saffron. Every treat that she made would taste so very delicious, making it pretty clear that evil could easily mix with excellence, and no one ever really knew that Lavana was evil. She would not go around the world to simply cause havoc, as that was not her motive, and Lavana was seen as the woman with brutal beauty. She also had seductive smarts as well, and her heavenly kisses could charm anyone.

"Welcome to the Grand Magic Games of X792, everyone! Once again, we're all here to decide the best guild in Fiore! Fairy Tail's win last year was exciting to see, but can they win again and keep their success going? Will someone else rise to the top? Let's get ready to see the eight competing teams!" Chapati announced excitedly, causing the spectators in the arena to cheer and roar. Even he looked thrilled for this annual tournament to be transpiring once again, since last year was really dramatic, and no one could forget about how the battles were so violent.

"I hope that everyone competes fairly this year. We don't want to have to disqualify anyone and ban them for three years like we had to do with Team Raven Tail last year." Yajima commented sternly, hoping no one would be foolish enough to cheat. In fact, this year, the Domus Flau had cameras on all of its statues to monitor and zoom in on every move of the competitors and their teammates. There was no way that anybody would be canceling out someone else's magic to help another team win, since the security was also composed of mages who could pinpoint the location of magic as soon as it was activated in any way.

"I certainly hope Blue Pegasus will be competing again. After all, Eve's Snow Magic managed to save many people from meeting a death that would've been caused by those vicious flames. The coldness of his snow was very vital, especially after the snow had melted down into water, so I'd hate to see our efforts go to waste. Although, I still do wonder about the people who caused those fiery explosions. They must be wanting attention, or a spot in the news section of the next issue of Sorcerer Magazine." Jenny Realight said with a happy smile on her face, as she waved to the crowd.

Then, the teams were getting ready to be announced. They would be announced in ascending order from the last full team that reached the Domus Flau to the first complete team who managed to get here. Since there were no preliminaries, due to a certain red-haired woman feeling the need to make her presence be known in the city of Crocus, it was pretty obvious that only the eight surviving teams would participate in this tournament. Some people even thought that yesterday's fiery explosions and bursting flames had been the preliminary round, too.

The first group to be announced was Team Quatro Cerberus, who had gotten 8th place this time around. Their team consisted of Bacchus, Rocker, Nobarly, Yaeger, and Semmes. Hopefully, for their sake, they wouldn't have to be renamed Team Quatro Puppy like last year.

Next, was Team Mermaid Heel. They came in 7th place, and the mages on the team were Kagura, Milliana, Beth, Risley, and Arania. Could they achieve fourth place at the end like they did last year?

After them, a new team came out of the dark hallway and the members of this team would be surprising to see. Their presence had shocked the crowd in a big way, even making the judges give off looks of total disbelief, and it was none other than Lavana's group of demon slayers that took on the name of Team Dark Almia. The team consisted of Lavana, Desertia, Heidi, Skyla, and let's just say that this team had their fifth member would be kept secret for now. They did not want to be seen with a demon slayer who was not one of the elite five, and trying to make Shelly return would just be a waste of time. Lavana waved to the crowd, causing many people to cheer and roar the name of the famous woman.

Following them, was Team Blue Pegasus. Jenny immediately stood up to applaud her teammates for getting 5th place, and she smiled at Hibiki, Ren, Eve, Ichiya, and Nichiya. Many people were also cheering for Team Blue Pegasus because of the fact that Ichiya released his Pain Relieving Perfume into the air to help save many people from the burning flames and smoke inhalation, including some kids that were now cheering from the stands for Blue Pegasus. Could Hibiki's calculations be able to work this year, or would his data need to be updated?

Afterwards, Team Lamia Scale came out on to the battlefield of the Domus Flau. Ooba Babasaama scolded them for getting 4th place again, but then she saw the reason why when Chelia Blendy kept on clumsily tripping over her own feet.

Then, Team Fairy Tail A arrived in the Domus Flau. Erza, Natsu, Lisanna, Cana, and Mira heard the tremendous roars of the crowd since Fairy Tail had won last year. They had confident smiles on their faces that told everyone that they planned to win again this year, and Natsu posed triumphantly for the crowd. He roared up at the crowd that Fairy Tail could beat the pants off of anyone, causing them to positively cheer his name as a response, and the fire dragon slayer was secretly hoping that Gray's team was running late.

However, he just had to tempt fate for his high hopes to come crashing down. Surprisingly, the next team to arrive was Team Fairy Tail B. It consisted of Gray, Juvia, Laxus, Gajeel, and Wendy. Jellal stayed up in the booth where Team Fairy Tail B was located, simply looking down at the field to see the team looking pretty proud, but he looked a bit serious from sensing tremendous amounts of magical power coming from Lavana and her team. There were also three more large amounts of magical power in the Domus Flau as well, but the blue-haired man did not know that they all belonged to demon slayers.

With the 2nd place team announced, only one team remained unknown. Natsu laughed while having an arrogant look on his face, thinking that Lucy had been the one who slowed Sabertooth down, and he thought that they definitely would not be in the tournament. He also wanted to laugh at the assumption of Sting, his greatest rival, having to watch the Grand Magic Games from the spectator seats. Natsu literally began to laugh about the fact that Sabertooth had practically forfeited to Fairy Tail last year, but he had tempted fate once again. Really, Natsu should've known that Lucy would never let him have the last laugh.

Finally, it was Team Sabertooth's time to step out on to the field. The six members were walking down the dark hallway towards the bright light that led to the battlefield where everyone else was waiting to see the team that had been the first to arrive at the Domus Flau. Orga was still going to walk out there with his teammates, despite being a reserve member for the team, and he also calmly smiled while seeing that Lucy was looking pretty psyched up for the competition. She would now be competing as a member of the Sabertooth guild, ready to help her new team of nakama achieve the victory that they desired.

Sting and Lucy were holding hands and smiling, as they arrived on the field with their teammates to see all the other teams they were competing against during the Grand Magic Games. The crowd cheered for Team Sabertooth, and some of the spectators even recognized Lucy from seeing her name in the newspaper because of all the great jobs that she had been completing in Fiore. Melinda was up in the booth where Team Sabertooth would have to be, and she looked really happy while cheering at the sight of the fact that her friends were the first team to reach the Domus Flau.

Lucy blushed a light shade of pink and seemed a little bit nervous from all of her opponents staring at her, especially since people like Kagura Mikazuchi and Lyon Vastia looked eager to fight her since they had obviously heard the stories of her enormous power. Her presence also made Desertia and Heidi have confident smiles on their faces, as they both looked really eager to have some rematches with her, and Lucy was a bit shocked to see that those two demon slayers came back into her life. Desertia was quite smart while Heidi was quite spoiled, but Lucy silently vowed to beat both of them down in some matches.

While Lucy was looking pretty tense about her conflicts, even though Shelly was involved in the battle where the blonde girl fought with Desertia, the black-haired woman could only give Lavana a pretty harsh glare while they stood across from each other. The red-haired woman smirked in a snobby manner, ready to use her flames to make Shelly melt and evaporate down into nothing, and she glanced over at Lucy for a moment to make the younger girl look at her in a curious manner. Lavana was glad to see that the Plant Demon Slayer had arrived, as her skills could make her seem more useful than Skyla could ever be.

Natsu asked Lucy with an annoyed facial expression, pointing his left index finger straight at her while he pointed his right index finger at Lavana, "There you are, Lucy! Don't think that I forgot for even a second how you beat me to a pulp and made me look bad in the Fairy Tail guild! Why in the world are you talking with this group of chicks, yet you ignore me like I never set you aflame while pouring alcohol on you! You also made me look bad against your plant skills, which should've been weaker than my flames, and I'll rough you up pretty good for that! Just because you beat me once, don't let it get to your head!"

Sting quickly shielded Lucy in an attempt to threaten Natsu to not mess with her, but she motioned for him to step aside before folding her arms and closing her eyes while countering Natsu's statement with a sharp tongue and a harsh look, "Wow, what a loudmouth. You're so confident that you can defeat me, yet you yourself stated that my Plant Demon Slayer Magic was able to beat your Fire Magic, and I was at a disadvantage. You gave me a pretty hard time for beating you down, Natsu, but you wouldn't have been able to handle it if I freaked out about you cheating on me with Lisanna. You never told me about the affair because you're a coward."

At that moment, most of the other mages let out a big "Ooooh!" in unison at her words towards Natsu. Even the crowd and the judges were impressed by such an image-shattering comeback like that, and Lucy looked pretty happy to receive high-fives from Shelly and Skyla as well. Orga, Rufus, and Sting also high-fived her for what she had said. Natsu looked totally shocked by this, dropping his jaw at the fact that Lucy told him off with ease, and the fire dragon slayer could even see that Shelly was laughing at him. Even if he could not take her on, he could still end up seeing the Water Demon Slayer take on Erza in a fight.

Gajeel, Laxus, and even Gray continued to laugh. Of course, Gray had always enjoyed seeing Natsu get told by anybody. The ice mage was also proud of Lucy for being able to stand up for herself like that, and Gray was personally rooting for her to win if she ever got matched up against Natsu in this five-day tournament. He knew that she was really strong with the power of her Plant Demon Slayer Magic, but Gray did not know that Lucy also had Wind Demon Slayer Magic at her disposal as well. Lucy's two types of magic were also benefiting her Celestial Spirits, since they were getting stronger while she also improved with her skills.

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><p><strong>5 minutes later...<strong>

After all the laughter ceased, a stone tablet rose up from the ground and it had the program for the five days of the Grand Magic Games on it. The events would happen before the battles on each day, except the fifth day where the event was the survival tournament that involved battles. Everyone wondered what the first event would end up being like, since they would never know what the event was until the judges had announced it, and some of the events could actually end up being pretty illogical. Some people even wondered if the Pandemonium event would come up, since that's where Erza Scarlet was really impressive.

To remind all the competitors that the Grand Magic Games were not just an assortment of mental and physical challenges, the first event was known as "Contest Master." For events, the teams could select a member to participate instead of the sponsors deciding. Everybody wanted to have those ten points right off the bat, most likely to have a sense of security for when the battles would come around, but they didn't even know what the event was about. Could this event be good or bad for Team Sabertooth, and could it end up being something that would have a pretty nice twist to it?

Team Quatro Cerebus had selected Yaeger while Beth had volunteered for Team Mermaid Heel, and Eve stepped forward to do this event for Team Blue Pegasus. Lyon decided to do this for Lamia Scale, prompting Gray Fullbuster from Team Fairy Tail B to also step forward with the motive to take on one of his fated rivals. Natsu was about to do the event for Team Fairy Tail A, thinking that it would involve him trying to be the master of an eating contest, but Erza stepped forward in his place. She wanted to go up against Heidi from Team Dark Almia, since the electric woman volunteered to do the event while looking confident as ever, and Erza could sense Heidi's strength.

While Lucy wanted to take part in this event to get some points for Team Sabertooth, knowing that it would be a very good strategic move to get the most amount of points on the first day, she also wanted to impress Sting again. He saw her great skills on many jobs, but getting so much praise in front of a crowd would really make Sting feel good about having Lucy on his team. She would do her best in the event, showing off her best moves to her awesome lover, and Lucy could even show off some new spells that she had created. This was also a good way to represent demon slayers, too, so Shelly could end up liking what her friend would do.

In an instant, Mato commanded the field to magically open up and a large stage appeared in the middle of the sandy battlefield. The stage had beautiful red curtains that rose up to reveal that there was absolutely nothing or no one on it, and the spotlights turned on to shine on the center of the wooden floor. Gray hoped that they wouldn't have to perform in a dance-off or something like that, since dancing was not exactly his best skill. There weren't any mic stands or microphones, so singing also would not be a part of this event.

"For those of you who don't know how to play this game, I'll explain the rules! Myself, Yajima-san, and the beautiful Jenny Realight from Team Blue Pegasus will be the judges in this event! Each competitor must go up on that stage and make their magic look appealing to the audience, but only three moves per mage are allowed. You will get a score for your performance, and the person who gets a perfect 10 gets ten points. Last place gets zero points, by the way. Now, let the event commence!" Chapati excitedly announced while looking thrilled for what was to come, before he had calmly explained the rules.

Heidi went up on the stage first while she looked pretty confident about her skills, since she was the expert-level Lightning Demon Slayer, and the blonde-haired woman smiled a bit while making some electricity in her hands take the shape of four yellow swords. The electricity began to solidify into four yellow swords that were all now made of metal, which was the clear demonstration of fusing two types of magic together, but Heidi did not use any Molding Magic. At some point after her fight with Lucy, Heidi had killed the Iron Demon Slayer named Jasmine. She swallowed a small piece of the iron that Jasmine could make, but that was not regular iron. It seemed to be magnetic, as it had caused Heidi to be pinned down to the ground in that cave of iron, and she was free when the metal digested in her body while combining with her electricity.

She simply blew a kiss to the crowd while throwing her four swords high into the air, before seeing them explode in yellow blasts of electrical energy, and yellow glitter came down on to the stage. The judges looked amazed to see that Heidi's spell known as Lightning Demon's Electric Sword Storm could have so much beauty and grace to it, but this move's side effect caused eight yellow beams of light to come down upon the Domus Flau. Seven of them struck the ground, creating seven yellow blasts of lightning that were so very bright, and the last one had struck Mato on the head! The referee was now electrified, seeming to get painfully shocked with tons of massively high voltage from Heidi's spell, and the judges could only give her a 4 out of 10 while they weren't amused.

The next person to go up on the stage was Lyon Vastia from Team Lamia Scale. He used his Ice-Make Magic to create three falcons out of ice, and they flew through the air for a few moments. When they descended into the ground, the ice falcons cracked into pieces. The judges gave Lyon a 3 out of 10, giving his team three points, and they got fifth place in the event. Gray grinned with confidence, knowing that he could do much better, and he narrowed his dark blue eyes while making various weapons out of ice. He threw them all into the air, watching them hit each other, and blue glitter fell down on to the stage as a result of all the ice breaking apart. The judges seemed impressed, and Gray received an eight out of ten to earn eight points for his team.

Having a creative yet simple idea, Eve Tearm from Team Blue Pegasus used his Snow Magic to easily create a snowman. While Jenny found it to be delightful, Chapati wasn't all that thrilled by something that he could see when Christmas came around. Eve received a 2 out of 10, earning two points for Blue Pegasus, and they were currently in sixth place. Beth Vanderwood from Team Mermaid Heel used her Carrot Magic to obviously produce carrots, and simply eating one of them caused Chapati to look disinterested. He only gave her a one out of ten, giving Mermaid Heel one point.

Yaeger from Team Quatro Cerberus used his Plant Magic to summon a flytrap out of the ground, but it had done nothing since there wasn't anything for it to eat. He received a zero from the judges, resulting in his team getting zero points. Erza from Team Fairy Tail used her requipping magic to summon up 100 swords, which was pretty impressive, and she made them all float around her body in a circular motion while they were in midair. Suddenly, much to her shock, all of her metallic weapons were crackling with yellow electricity! They exploded around her in 100 yellow blasts of energy, making Erza take an immense amount of damage from that extreme amount of voltage, and she looked totally fried while her skin was charred as well.

This major fluke was a result of Erza bringing out metal weapons while the electricity from Heidi's spell still stuck around, and the physics involving electricity could tell anyone that it was only logical for lightning to latch on to metal. Heidi's dangerous electricity latched on to Erza's weapons, causing many blasts to occur, and Erza also seemed to be paralyzed while she fell to the ground. She could not move at all while electricity flowed through and around her entire body, causing Mira to giggle while she dragged the scarlet-haired woman off of the stage. Erza received six points for her team, since it was the lower of the two available scores.

After Erza's broken scraps of metal vanished from the stage, Lucy had motivation in her cocoa brown eyes from realizing that she was the only competitor left. Luckily for her, ten was the only remaining score for whatever she did. It would easy to do something simple, still getting the highest amount of points, but that's not what Lucy was going to do. She wanted to impress Sting, show him how powerful she could be with her new spells, and Lucy was going to show the crowd that the demon slayers had a great reason to feel like they were the best trend of fighters in this year's Grand Magic Games.

She shouted with strong emotions after running up on to the stage with a happy smile on her face, sounding really full of ambition while she would be using both types of magic in this event, "All right, crowd! It's time for the spotlight to shine like the beauty of the Sabertooth guild! I call upon thee, the newest spell of my magic, Plant Demon's Leaf Ring!"

This spell caused ten green leaves to float around in the air above Lucy's head, the wind sending them high into the sky, and the leaves all floated down to the sandy ground for the purpose of making ten large pale green blasts occur in a large circle! They circled around a larger mint green blast of Wind Demon Slayer Magic that appeared in the middle of the leaves because of all the wind that was going through the ring, and the large amount of wind expanded outward to blow some people from the other teams up into the air. The effects from the pale green blasts had caused ten trees to rise up from the ground while they stood in a circle, but they were mostly there for if Lucy needed to duplicate that powerful spell. It also worked with chain power, too.

As the winds blew back to the space in the center of trees, however, another large mint green blast of energy had transpired! It decimated the trees while also causing more of those pale green blasts to occur, and this was done as a rebound move to blow far-off enemies back into the radius of being unsafe. The blasts cleared up quickly while the wind made beautiful glitter in the colors of mint green and pale green fall to the battlefield, making the crowd look happy from seeing something that could be so powerful and pretty at the same time, and it was a pretty good move to use in a contest of flaunting power.

The other competitors could smell the minty aroma of Lucy's attack, loving how it seemed so very similar to mint chocolate chip ice cream, and Lavana folded her arms while seeming a bit impressed at how the newest demon slayer was learning how to have such a wide amount of control over her attacks. Lucy's range of damage had also increased as well, since the powerful winds nearly blew Makarov out of the booth where Fairy Tail's supporters were located, and Lavana could sense that Lucy just used a hybrid spell. Fusing two different types of together was no great feat, but mastering many fusion spells took tons of effort.

Since Lucy's spell was now done, as she inhaled some air to replenish the magical power that she lost, the brown-eyed girl walked off of the stage with a pleasant smile on her face. The stage vanished into thin air, as the event had now come to a close, and the crowd seemed to really take a liking to what Lucy could do. Some of them even recognized her as the girl who was once in Fairy Tail, but Lucy did feel a bit miffed from hearing some people say that she was the girl who got beaten up so badly by Minerva last year. She promised herself that getting beaten down would not happen this year, as she was stronger now.

"Wow, that was really amazing! Sabertooth is pretty strong, now that Lucy Heartfilia is with them! Her team receives 10 points, and that power definitely gives her a perfect score of 10! Lucy's grassy abilities are possibly going to help the city of Crocus grow more lovely flowers, and her winds may just end up blowing us all away! The records on Lucy also say that she is a demon slayer now, and it looks like she could help Sabertooth's comeback grow like a flower!" Chapati announced with an excited facial expression, shocked to see that Lucy had so much power.

The blonde mage was very surprised to find out that her spell worked well with some simple thoughts that were in her mind, not even thinking that the leaves and wind could work in harmony like that, and she did not think that a simple spell could give off so much magical power. She bowed politely for the crowd, before jumping up into Sabertooth's booth to see all of her friends. The winds surprisingly blew the teams into their respective booths, almost like Lucy wanted to keep this spell from hurting innocent people, and Sting happily hugged her for helping the Sabertooth guild earn their first victory. She was glad to have helped her team win, but all of the power in her moves just felt so different to her. It was almost like her level of strength evolved, really.

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><p><strong>10 minutes later…<strong>

When the competitors from the event went up to the booths where their teams were waiting, everyone could only talk about Lucy's fierce determination to win since she had nearly destroyed the other competitors and obliterated the stage with her spells of Darkness Magic. Who would be against her in the battle part, if she were chosen to battle today? The battles had time limits of 30 minutes, and the winner would get 10 points while the loser would receive zero. A draw would result in five points for both teams, to keep things fair, and getting those five points could actually make a difference for some of the teams.

Speaking of battles, the battle part had begun with Gajeel Redfox from Team Fairy Tail B facing off against Nobarly from Team Quatro Cerberus. Gajeel had slammed him into the wall with a simple Iron Dragon's Roar, knocking him out and quickly ending the match. Team Fairy Tail A received 10 points for winning while maintaining second place with a current total of 18 points to their score, but Team Quatro Cerberus was still down in eighth place with zero points. They certainly were pathetic, were they not?

The second battle pitted Rufus Lohr from Team Sabertooth against Beth Vanderwood from Team Mermaid Heel. The young country girl tried attacking him with her Carrot Missiles, but Rufus used his Memory-Make Magic to make a clone of himself for Beth to attack. He then smirked a bit while proceeding to end the match with a combination of Lucy's skills with his abilities. He used a new move called Memory-Make: Grassy Flame, and it made several green fireballs come down from the sky to attack Beth. She took massive damage from the powerful explosions, and was knocked out. Rufus won the match, thus earning ten more points for his guild to give Sabertooth a current score of 20 points.

The next match had Jura Neekis from Lamia Scale up against Eve Tearm from Team Blue Pegasus. The blond young man attempted to use White Fang to strike Jura, only to have the Wizard Saint easily defeat him by using Iron Rock Fist to slam him against a wall with tremendous force. Eve fell to the ground, and Jura was declared the winner of the match. Team Lamia Scale gained ten more points, but Team Blue Pegasus got nothing from the match. Jenny was noticeably upset, but Jura was quite a strong opponent. Team Lamia Scale now had 13 points, but Team Blue Pegasus was left with only 2.

The final match of the day put Mirajane Strauss from Team Fairy Tail A up against Heidi Rakurai from Team Dark Almia, and the match quickly began with Mira going into her Satan Soul: Sitri form to start things off. She quickly rushed towards Heidi with her immense amount of speed, hoping to end this with one strike while the flames left in Mira's wake would also damage Heidi, but the blonde-haired woman quickly vanished in a flash of yellow lightning. She reappeared behind Mira to hit her gently with Lightning Demon's Charge Beam, but even the weakest hit from a spell involving chain power would not matter. Heidi would just make this into a numbers game, since she wanted to have some fun.

As the yellow orb of electricity appeared in front of Heidi again, Mira had the idea of destroying it with one punch to also keep the beam from appearing. She was not fast enough to evade the beam of lightning, though, and this hit was much more powerful than the last one. Heidi could even direct the orb itself to hit Mira, as its three close beams only turned to three little zaps of electricity, and the chain power still took effect. Five levels of electric power were built up inside of the white-haired woman now, and Heidi ended this match by using her lightning speed to kick Mira up into the air.

Heidi's kick was electrified, having much more strength than normal because of the chain power, and a massive yellow blast of energy transpired in the sky! Mira could be heard screaming in pain from this vicious attack, before falling down to the ground with a hard slam that created lots of smoke, and Erza gasped in shock at how the demon slayers were much more powerful than she imagined them to be. Heidi smirked evilly while walking away, as the smoke cleared up to reveal that her foe was no longer conscious, and Team Dark Almia now had 14 points while Team Fairy Tail A had only six.

Lucy and Sting could both only cringe at the sight of what Heidi had just done, really feeling slight bits of sympathy for Mira having to share their fate of losing against Heidi, and that rude beauty was pretty strong. The blonde-haired woman vanished in a flash of lightning to get back up to her team's booth, before pulling out a lipstick dispenser from the left pocket of her blue jeans, and Heidi put on some lipstick to keep looking sexy. Even though no one knew that Heidi indirectly sabotaged Erza's appealing move with the swords, Team Fairy Tail A knew that this year would have walls that were far from easy to get over.

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><p>With the first day complete, Team Sabertooth decided to go to a restaurant and celebrate. They were all very glad to have gotten a perfect score of twenty points on the first day, just like how they had done last year, and things were looking up for this group. Rufus was glad to have beaten Beth in a battle that was pretty easy, even though many people knew that it was clear that the masked man would end up winning that fight, and Lucy was really pleased to have pulled off such a great move in that first event. It was so very pretty and powerful, and Lucy could even use it in deserted areas for some easy perfume.<p>

Shelly sat at the table with her nakama while they were all eating large cheeseburgers with salty french fries to celebrate this great victory, as Lector and Frosch were also delighted that guild was off to a very good start, but victory was not on the mind of the Water Demon Slayer. She looked very deep in thought while her aqua blue eyes were filled with tension, as she was really not happy about the fact that Lavana and her crew got themselves involved in the Grand Magic Games, and seeing that red-haired sorceress again was not exactly the best thing in the world. After all, she did steal magic from a little girl named Rosalina.

She really had to wonder why that witch and her crew of evil demon slayers would show up to a place where they could not kill their foes, especially considering the fact that Heidi could have killed Mira with just the explosive chain power by itself, and those girls were smart enough to not be malicious here. Mira's clothing from her Sitri appearance had broken her fall while the clothes were durable, before her lack of energy forced her out of the transformation, and even Jenny could not laugh at the woman who caused her to pose nude for Sorcerer Magazine last year. Really, Heidi was a case of deadly beauty with electricity as a brutal bonus.

Also, as Shelly took a bite out of the large cheeseburger that was in her hands, she could not understand why Lavana's group showed up as a team of four. The fifth person was not in the booth with them, which was really weird, and Shelly really hoped that Desertia would not make her remember how she was desperate enough to change her side of loyalty to save her own life in the Haruba Desert. Even seeing that orange-haired woman today had made the black-haired woman feel rather uneasy, and there was no way that Lavana would even want Shelly to be on her side anymore. If so, then who was their fifth member?

This matter was really hard to think about, as the fifth member could end up being anyone, and Shelly sighed even more from seeing Lucy make out with Sting while she was trying to have some serious thoughts. Rogue wondered if Lavana was the one who created all of the fire on the previous day, since it was quite possible that she would do that, but Shelly didn't answer him. She blushed a light shade of pink from hearing Frosch say that the shadow dragon slayer would always be there for the woman that he liked, and Shelly thought about telling her thoughts to him. However, as she was about to try and do so, a certain friend passing by had kindly interrupted her.

"I hope that you'll compete tomorrow, Shelly, since it would be so very tubular for you to freeze an enemy or drown them in some water. You're so very awesome with your skills, and it almost makes me regret leaving the Sabertooth guild. Lucy was totally cool with her grassy bombs that were just jamming out to those powerful winds, Shelly, so I hope that you can do your best on the next day. Beat the fairies down, and keep your wicked water working hard to the groovy grindstone." Melinda told her friend in a happy manner while calmly smiling, before walking out of the restaurant.

Shelly thought to herself while she was glad to hear those good words from her friend, causing a soft smile to form on her face as she thought about another great friend, _"Ah, the lovely town of Aeris. I should head back there one day to check on Rosalina, since we are really great friends, and maybe she's been doing ok. Whether Lavana likes it or not, though, I'll find out where she came from. She doesn't even seem to be a full demon slayer, almost like she was a mage with powers before all of this. Rosalina probably sensed it as well, but thinking about all this will bring up more questions than answers."_

**How was the 18th chapter? Did you like it? The Grand Magic Games have truly begun, and Sabertooth is coming out swinging! There will be some StiCy, NaLu, NaLi, and RoShe in the next chapter, but love isn't everything. As the days unfurl, many things will be addressed. Will Shelly find out the theory about Lavana? Will Sting show off his new moves? Who do you think is Team Dark Almia's fifth member, or who should it be for the sake of a good twist? Standby for the update!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Grand Magic Games, Day 2<strong>

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><p>Lucy woke up in her room that she shared with Yukino at the inn where members from the Sabertooth guild would stay for the duration of the Grand Magic Games, and she blushed a light shade of pink while smiling a bit at how her dreams about Sting could be so very lovely. She felt the sunlight's warmth come down on her face, prompting her to smile as it reminded her of the day that she won the contest to receive a luxurious vacation to the town of Cerulean. The weather had been sunny on that day, with the sunlight shining down on Magnolia when Lucy went through the Water Warp puddle, and it was also sunny when she showed up in one of the resort's hot springs as well.<p>

Today was the 2nd day of the Grand Magic Games, and Lucy looked determined to win again like she had done yesterday. Not only for her sake, but to show Sting that they hadn't trained so hard for nothing. She wanted to make him feel pleased with her, liking her new talents, and Lucy loved to hear Sting be proud of her. He had even congratulated her last night for winning the first event of the Grand Magic Games, and Lucy had giggled a bit while blushing when he had also given her a gentle kiss on the cheek. She loved to know that Sting was supporting her throughout this tournament, and he would also help her out with the issue of Natsu as well.

The previous day was also full of things that could create quite a shock, since the brown-eyed girl did not expect to end up crossing paths with Heidi again, and it was kinda startling for her to finally see the great Lavana Kasai as well. Even though Lucy did not see why the crowd cheered so loudly for Lavana, at the time that Team Dark Almia stepped out on to the field, she could sense tons of immense power from that woman. Lucy also thought that Lavana's flames could make Natsu's flames look very weak, which they really could, and those two mages that wielded two different kinds of Fire Magic were on very different levels of power.

Even looking at Lavana was pretty scary for Lucy, making her gulp with some fear in her eyes while she hoped to not be on the receiving end of the red-haired woman's flames, and any battle that she would have with Shelly could wreck the entire Domus Flau. Of course, based on their current ranks and skills, Lavana's fire could probably make Shelly's water evaporate while it would also melt her ice. The black-haired woman could not even take down Desertia, and she was lucky to have not lost her life from being deep in the sand for so long. That loss made Shelly feel so bad about herself, and being beaten by Lavana's strength would just make her feel crushed.

Lucy put her thoughts about Shelly aside for a moment, however, and she still could not believe the luck that Fairy Tail had on their first day. While Gray had done good in the first event, making his ice look very appealing, Erza's skills with her swords fell to a total flop. No one really knew how the scarlet-haired woman's swords exploded like that, but she still failed to put on a good performance. Speaking of failing, Mira totally got whupped by Heidi in their match. The demon slayer definitely lived up to her name, beating down a woman who was nicknamed "The Demon" at one point, and that was awesome.

The blonde mage slowly got out of bed to see that the bathroom light was on with the sliding door closed, and Yukino hummed happily while taking a shower. Lucy thought that it would be rude to intrude on her like that to just greet her, and the blonde mage had a soft smile on her face while knowing that she could wait. She was still happy to be in the Grand Magic Games with Yukino and the rest of her new crew, prompting Lucy to happily dance around for a few seconds. She hoped that her new guild would win this thing, and she would definitely try to be a good contributor. After all, Sabertooth needed to be the best guild in Fiore again.

She could hear Shelly and Rogue both yawning softly while they were in a room that had been right across from the bedroom that she shared with Yukino, and Lucy's ears heard Shelly let out a soft sigh of pleasure while it seemed like she slept next to Rogue. Those two really did have some good chemistry, even to the point where Shelly would get just as worried as Rogue would about the thought of Frosch going missing. She would try to shake down anyone who might have seen the green Exceed, even though her cold anger would end up freezing the people who would be getting interrogated by her.

As she smiled with happiness in her brown eyes, going over to the window to open it for some fresh air, Sting exclaimed in a confident manner while entering the room with Lector perched on to his head, "Good morning, Lucy! I hope you're totally psyched up about today, especially since it's the second day of the Grand Magic Games! We won't have a repeat of last year where we got absolutely no points at all, and I plan to dedicate my new moves to you! I hope you'll like my strategies today, my sweet cupcake, and you could even get to see me wipe the floor with Natsu as well."

Lucy replied happily while running over to Sting to give him a hug of delight, happiness twinkling in her cocoa brown eyes, "Sting, you are the sweetest guy that I have ever met! You are so awesome, and I will definitely be rooting for you. I don't know what the event will be this year, but I know that either you or me can do well in it if we believe in ourselves and go forth with unyielding determination. After all, that's what a winning team is all about. However, let's not forget that we aren't alone. Our nakama will always be by our side to help us, which gives the team a far better chance of success."

While Lucy finished giving her sweet hug to the guy who brought light into her life, she blushed a bit from hearing her stomach growl loudly once again. If her feelings were talking to Sting, then her stomach could do it as well. He chuckled a bit from hearing her belly bark, but Sting knew that it was natural for his girlfriend to now have an appetite. She was one of the demon slayers, after all, and those sexy girls actually did have the need to eat lots of food. In fact, Sting was even able to recall one incident where Shelly ate all of the hot dogs that were prepared for the Sabertooth's guild's day of fun in the sun at the sandy beach.

She had also made a green tornado of wind surround only her body while the wind helped her changed clothes, censoring her body for a few moments, and the tornado quickly vanished to reveal Lucy's new outfit. She wore a simple orange T-shirt with a purple miniskirt, and her flat shoes were blue. She always was pretty fashionable, and Sting smiled at her choice of colors. As her stomach growled once more for food, Lucy ran out of the room with her awesome boyfriend and Lector while she also knew that Yukino would catch up to them when she was done taking a shower.

The second day was sure to bring almost anything, really, but Lucy did not want to see her new guild have history repeat itself by giving zero points to the guild of Sabertooth. The blonde girl would fight hard in the battle, possibly going to try hard in the event if she wanted to do it again, and taking down Fairy Tail in the Grand Magic Games was another one of the fine thoughts that went through her mind. She was glad that Natsu's team had such a low score, putting them down in fifth place, but Gray's team in second place could prove to be pretty tough. Despite that fact, however, Lucy really wanted to help her team rack up more wins.

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile...<strong>

Lisanna had asked Erza to meet with her at a donut shop in Crocus, and she was truly not pleased about the team's low score on the first day of the Grand Magic Games. It was not the fault of the scarlet-haired woman that Heidi's electric powers caused her swords to explode, only getting six points for Fairy Tail's first team on the first day, and Erza was forced to deal with the fact that some people would be talking about how she lost to a former member of Fairy Tail in an event that seemed so very easy. Even if it had gone right, though, was there really any way to know if Erza's skills would've been enough for her to earn ten vital points for the dysfunctional team?

As if that was not bad enough for Team Fairy Tail A, Mira also lost a match against Heidi without even being able to land one single blow on the demon slayer that wielded wicked lightning. The demon slayers could be seen as being in a class of their own, since Mira could not even take down one of them, and girls like Heidi were not what anyone in Fairy Tail had been used to dealing with. In fact, Heidi was only the third-best demon slayer in Fiore. The ones who were above and below were nothing to get cocky about, either, so all of them looked like they could really know how to fight without showing any sort of mercy in any of the battles that would come up.

It was quite sad that the white-haired girl would see her team in a bad state right now, after dealing with only one of the seven demon slayers in the tournament, and seeing the team be up in arms about one of them was not very good. Even though Heidi was really tough while also being at a far higher level than Mira, the other demon slayers could prove to be much worse than making electricity shock someone in the skies. Shelly could freeze people with her glacial ice, as well as drowning them with her rough amounts of water, and Skyla's winds could blow people away while also fiercely striking them with tons of power as well. Just because she had one type of magic, that didn't make Skyla be classified as harmless.

Melinda was not competing in the Grand Magic Games, which would just leave her skills to truly be unknown to the people watching the tournament, but there was never any need to think that a woman with hippie lingo was not a threat. She was the Darkness Demon Slayer, even though this girl seemed to be quite nice, and it was too bad that Fairy Tail knew nothing vital about what any of the demon slayers were capable of. That could hinder Mavis could forming any kind of strategy to plot against either one of the teams, especially with the fact that the great Lavana had more cards in her hand, and any moves that she made could end up being really good without any flaws at all.

While Erza sat down at the table with Lisanna, neither of the girls took notice of Natsu not being at the inn today. That was because him and Happy had already gone off to the Domus Flau in hopes of being on time for the fire dragon slayer's chance to have a really good fight in the first battle of the second day, and Natsu was really hoping that he'd get a shot at taking on Lucy. He did not even realize that there could be a chance of Fairy Tail meeting up with the demon slayers again, and that would not be good for the guild at all. Makarov was already planning to give Natsu a lecture on how to treat people, since Juvia told the guild master about how Natsu almost killed Lucy.

"Well, yesterday was not such a good day for our team. We got beaten down badly by that girl from the guild known as Dark Almia, and she is a demon slayer like Lucy. Heidi was at a far higher level of power than Mira, which was totally not expected at all, and I still can't believe that she beat down one of the strongest people in our guild. This just proves that we can't act cocky about people from the other teams, since they'll all be trying really hard to take the trophy away from us, and we can't expect Sabertooth to just hand us a victory like last year." Erza told Lisanna in a calm tone while looking pretty stern, miffed at Mira's and her own losses to Heidi.

The girl with cute blue eyes replied in a somewhat envious tone, not liking how Lucy's team got all 20 points for a perfect score on the first day, "If those girls want to come at us, then we can gladly take them on. I just hate how neither of the teams could beat Sabertooth or have the chance to beat them in a battle, since me and Natsu would be so very glad to see Lucy cry tears of sadness, and Lucy was only lucky that your routine in that event had somehow malfunctioned. If it had gone well, you would have beaten her easily to get those 10 points. I still can't believe that she has so much control over her magic, too. We have to find a way to beat her down, and fast."

Both of the girls could see that their team was really in trouble, due to the fact that the team was in fifth place, and that is not where Erza wanted them to be. She wanted Team Fairy Tail A to be at the very top of the board, being very close to getting the lovely golden trophy that would keep Fairy Tail's reign alive, but that did not seem to be possible right now because of all the demon slayers taking over the Grand Magic Games. Lucy was pretty good, something the scarlet-haired woman had to really admit, but Heidi was even better. She was in a much higher class, having the power to take on anyone, and she gave Mira a great beating that was electrifying to everyone.

Erza did not know what the other demon slayers in Lavana's crew could do, but she gulped a bit while not letting Lisanna know that Lavana was the woman from the Magma Cavern. That was where Erza took a massive amount of damage, her armors being burnt and melted away, so trying to go up against that sorceress of fire would only be asking for a heap of trouble to be on a path towards the guild of Fairy Tail. Erza was really stuck on what the plan would be, since Heidi only showed her weakest powers on the first day, and there was no way for good info to reach the fairies. If they didn't face Dark Almia, however, things could start to turn around in a pretty nice way.

Aside from that team, though, Erza was also really curious about what Shelly could do. The famous Water Demon Slayer was an Ice Demon Slayer as well, very famous for getting so many treasures with her great skills, and Shelly's high level of intellect could make her be a very worthy foe. Erza would love to go up against the black-haired woman in a battle that could possibly shake up the entire city of Crocus, even making it end up being frozen or filled with water in the process, and that could end up causing a major amount of damage to many people. Fairy Tail and Sabertooth would both get sued and be thrown out of the competition, which would just be really bad for both sides.

Then, there was Melinda. Her abilities were just totally unknown, as Erza did not see her compete in the Grand Magic Games last year, and she was not going to be fighting in this year's tournament. Then again, fate could cause all kinds of things to end up transpiring. Erza did not even know much about these girls, since they were not like dragon slayers or god slayers, but they could be really dangerous. Beauty could be paired with brawn, and their high levels of strength could wreck anything that was in their path. Fairy Tail had their work cut out for them, since taking on a demon slayer was like asking for trouble, and Erza was simply at a loss about what to really do.

As she looked really deep in thought, Lisanna looked at the clock on the donut shop's wall. The current time was 9:04 in the morning, with the Grand Magic Games going to start up at 9:30, and Lisanna knew that she had to meet up with Natsu soon. She quickly grabbed Erza's left hand while running out of the donut shop with her, ready to try and get at least one win today, and Lisanna was going to make sure that Fairy Tail would not falter. They got momentum on the second day in the previous year, thanks to Elfman winning against Bacchus, so would history end up repeating itself in a good way that could boost the team from fifth place to at least fourth, third, second, or first?

* * *

><p><strong>10 minutes later, at the Domus Flau…<strong>

The members of Team Sabertooth had made it to the Domus Flau in time, not wanting to miss any part of the action, and Yukino had finished her shower fast enough to join up with her teammates. She did not want to miss out on today, either, especially since the second day was the day where she had fought Kagura Mikazuchi last year and lost while all of her Celestial Spirits were defeated. Even the great Serpent Bearer known as Ophiuchus was defeated by a single slash of a sheathed sword, and Yukino sadly looked down while remembering how overconfident she had been. That battle felt so very unreal, you know.

She wasn't the only one who was somewhat down, you know. Lucy looked a tad bit nervous about the event and battle today, wondering if her spells involving plant roots could work on the sandy battlefield, and the blonde girl knew that there was a graveyard for dragons under the Domus Flau. There was no water, meaning that no plants were under the ground, so Lucy would have chain power and hand spells of Plant Demon Slayer Magic to rely on. Of course, she also knew from dealing with the other demon slayers that using chain-powered moves to open a way for big strikes was just nothing more than a basic strategy.

Lucy also let her mind flash back to the battle with Desertia in the Haruba Desert, and the Earth Demon Slayer could increase her chain power while still using the successive spell itself. Heidi could do the same thing, with the only difference being that her lightning boosted up her speed to levels where the eyes of Lucy and Sting would be unable to see her, but the blonde woman hid that little trick from them to not let them see her best skills. She preferred to save her best moves for a strong demon slayer like Lavana, even though the mistress of fire could tear through them with very little effort in any of her spells.

As Team Sabertooth stood in their booth, with Frosch and Lector standing on the stone ledges, Rogue was secretly hoping to see Shelly take down someone in a battle. He wanted the woman that he admired to do her best, knowing that she could drown or freeze anybody who got in her way, and the shadow dragon slayer had a calm smile on his face while he knew that a stern woman like Shelly could have her gentle moments. She even blushed and smiled happily from finding some blue roses in front of her dorm room on one fine morning, but she had no clue that Rogue put them there for her to have sweet-smelling flowers in her room.

Sting was really the only member of the team that felt pretty calm about this day, since he felt like this was the day for the team to make up for last year's horrible outcome on the second day of last year's Grand Magic Games, and the white dragon slayer grinned over at Lucy while knowing that she would do great in the event or the battle. Sting was really prepped for his chance to fight in the event or battle as well, since it truly would seem like redemption for how he had given up against Natsu and Gajeel in the Chariot event, and he did not plan to end up losing again. Aside from that, he'd also bring out some brand new skills.

Chapati exclaimed while looking excited about the upcoming action today, "Welcome to the second day of the Grand Magic Games, everybody! Yesterday, Sabertooth showed us how they can blow away their foes while using leaves in such fierce ways! They have made a garden of hope for their guild, and they currently have 20 points! Team Fairy Tail B and Team Dark Almia are not far behind, either, and Team Lamia Scale is in fourth place! Let's see if the standings will be shaken up on this fine day, and we'll see just how good the demon slayers can be!"

"Sabertooth was certainly impressive on the first day, I'll say that." Yajima commented in a calm tone while folding his arms.

"Hello, people! My name's Jason from Sorcerer Magazine, and I'm the guest judge for the second day! I am definitely going to get the DVD for this year's Grand Magic Games, because Lucy Heartfilia's fusion of Plant Demon Slayer Magic and Wind Demon Slayer Magic was just so interesting and cool! It was like seeing something from some kind of weird dream, yet it was just so cool! I can't wait to see what the other demon slayers will bring to the table, but I can guess that they'll simply be really cool!"

The crowd began to cheer wildly, knowing that today's event and battles would probably be exciting and thrilling to watch. All of the teams were in their respective booths, and Shelly looked over at the one where Team Dark Almia was located. The woman with aqua blue eyes had her attention focused on her red-haired rival, really ready to see what kinds of new spells she gained in one year, and Shelly knew that fighting her was not possible right now. If she was put in a match with Lavana, as thrilling as it would be to see two demon slayers duke it out, Shelly could just walk away freely with her life still intact.

Chapati announced that today's event would be known as "Earthy Hopscotch." According to his description of the event, the sandy battlefield was going to break up into chunks of rocks that were all in various sizes. Some would be big while others would be small, and all of these chunks of earth would float high up in the air while simply leaving a massive hole in the ground. The field would be restored to its normal state for the battle part, though, so there was really no need for anyone to worry about falling underground like how Natsu and Gajeel had done in last year's tag-team battle against Sting and Rogue.

Sting looked pretty pleased while he also got to hear about this event's objective, which was to touch a flagpole while standing on the chunk of earth that was high above the other rocks, and he liked the challenge of knowing that the rocks would also move around at differing times that would be based on their sizes. Even though people could also lose in the event by falling down into the gaping hole, Sting knew that this was his area of expertise. Winning at this event would not be the easiest thing to do, but the white dragon slayer had some secret moves that could really help him bounce around nicely for something like this.

Before anyone could even debate with him about it, Sting jumped down on the sandy battlefield and waited to see whom his opponents would be. Even though he had no clue who was going to be selected, Sting told himself to give it 120% since he was doing it for Lucy. After all, she had done the previous event to impress him. Sting had enjoyed seeing her explosive plant powers that were coupled with winds capable of blowing people away, and now he would let her see how his bright light could really help the team keep their shiny streak of winning. They would be gleaming all the way to glory, which was pretty cool.

Upon seeing Sting jump down from the booth to do this event, Natsu angrily left Team Fairy Tail A's booth to be in this game as well. He was not going to let Lucy get away with insulting him like how she had done on the previous day, since he planned to make her cry by beating down Sting in a public place for her to regret flipping to the Sabertooth guild, and the fire dragon slayer knew that this was the day for his team to start getting a good amount of points. He would make sure that his team caught up to Sabertooth, even if it would take them all five days to win by just one point, and Natsu looked pretty serious about this.

Since this event was most likely going to have combat on rocks, as magic would be permitted to slow people down in what might be a race to the top chunk of earth, Wendy thought that it would be a smart move for her to volunteer on behalf of Team Fairy Tail B. The young blue-haired girl did not have much a jumping ability, but she could propel herself up high to other chunks of earth by using her Sky Dragon Slayer Magic as a nice boost. That strategy on its own could greatly assist Wendy in getting to the flagpole first, and she could probably end up reaching it in a very short amount of time. She could win, you know.

Yuka Suzuki volunteered for Team Lamia Scale since his Wave Magic might be useful, and Eve decided to participate once again since he could use snow to create a slight advantage for himself. Lavana saw this event as a good chance to wreak havoc, but it was smarter to let an ace mage with Earth Demon Slayer Magic work with her muddy specialty of causing trouble that would be sweet like rocky road ice cream. Desertia would participate in this event for Team Dark Almia, as she vanished in a twister of sand to quickly appear on the battlefield, and she ignored the stern glares that came from Lucy and Shelly.

Arania Webb had volunteered to be in this event for Team Mermaid Heel, and Nobarly from Team Quatro Cerberus had decided to participate as well. Now that all the selections were completed, with all the players now being out on the battlefield, the event would soon begin. To satisfy the spectators and teams, Lacrima Vision screens appeared in the air to show them what was happening in full view. This also made it easy for the judges to replay some parts of the event in slow motion to see which of two people was inches closer to the stadium's newly created abyss from possibly falling off a rock, and that would make it easier for rankings to be given.

When everyone had stepped forward for the event, Mato commanded the playing field to appear and everyone besides Desertia seemed slightly startled when they heard rumbling sounds coming from underneath them. In an instant, the sandy battlefield broke apart into many chunks of earth! The ground was cracking into many pieces while the sand began to slide off the brown rocks, and everyone kept their balance while getting to see that a medium-sized rock was floating high in the air while larger and smaller rocks were under it. Those rocks were floating around below the rock for victory, and the eight competitors were carried up into the air while they all stood on one triangle-shaped rock.

* * *

><p>As the gong was struck to signal for the event to begin, Natsu immediately glared at Sting and proceeded to attack him with Fire Dragon's Roar. However, his attack was blocked by a shield of brown sand that Desertia quickly created as a way to get the fire dragon slayer's attention to be diverted. As her wall of dense sand was strong enough to endure Natsu's attack until it died down to being a tiny flame, the orange-haired woman took notice of the great Sting Eucliffe using these few seconds as his chance to have some bouncy fun on hard surfaces. That might have made sense when a tiled floor was mentioned, but how would Sting bounce off a rock?<p>

He used a new move called White Dragon's Super Springboard, and this spell simply made a white square of light appear next to the triangular rock that everyone was standing on. Sting jumped on his square of light, which caused him to go very high into the air, and he quickly got on a large rock that was pretty distant from the other competitors. His square of light vanished quickly, but Sting smiled a bit while knowing that this was a good way to aim at his foes from such a distant range. He fired his White Dragon's Roar at the triangular rock, knowing his attack grew more powerful with distance, and it was quick enough to hit Nobarly from Team Quatro Cerberus.

The shocked male was not fast enough to evade this attack, as it sent him crashing right off of the rock, and Nobarly fell into the Domus Flau's abyss while he was also not able to score a single point for his team. Sting's attack had created a large blast of white light that blinded the eyes of the other competitors, except Desertia and Wendy because they were both behind the sadistic woman's wall of brown sand that kept the blinding light from getting in their eyes, and this light left some people stunned for a few seconds. While Desertia and Wendy went on ahead to catch up with Sting, Natsu ran past them to get at his true target.

Desertia and Wendy saw Natsu jump from rock to rock like a monkey, even using Fire Dragon's Sword Horn to reach rocks that were at higher levels of elevation, but the sky dragon slayer smiled happily while using some secret advice that Lucy had given to her on the day she went back to Fairy Tail. Wendy focused her magic down on her feet, making two small sky blue tornadoes form under them, and the brown-eyed girl began to fly through the air. She flew up to another rock while also being careful to stay out of Natsu's way, since he might see her as a foe for being on the other team, and things looked good for Wendy.

She took notice of Desertia aiming her left hand at a small rock that was nearby, using her earthy abilities to make it turn into mud, and all of that brown mud went into the mouth of the orange-haired woman. Despite looking like mud, it was actually chocolate that she created. Desertia learned how to make the sweet treat with her Earth Demon Slayer Magic, which tasted very good, and her cheeks were full of chocolate while she had been eating it. She did not need to jump from rock to rock, as she could use her sand twister to reach the flagpole, but was there truly any harm in causing a lovely bit of trouble for the other people?

After a few seconds had passed by, she opened her mouth to spit out a spell known as Earth Demon's Chocolate Shooter. The orange-haired woman spat out eight brown balls of chocolate from her mouth, one of them hitting Arania while she was about to aim a move at Desertia, and the eight chocolate bombs quickly created eight orange blasts of earthy energy! Each one was larger than the one that came before it, with the fifth blast sending Arania down into the abyss, and she only earned one point for Team Mermaid Heel. Kagura looked pretty displeased by that, but she even thinking about not eating chocolate for quite a while.

As Desertia vanished in a sudden twister of sand to reach a higher rock, she quickly appeared on that rock while creating a ball of mud in her hands. This was the same hard mud that was used to defeat Shelly, and Desertia did not create it for the sake of starting a fight. She could see that Eve and Yuka had the clever idea of forming a temporary truce to defeat her, since she was the biggest threat in the game right now, and the orange-haired woman laughed evilly while having a delighted look in her orange eyes. She threw the ball of mud down at her foes, making it explode in a miniature orange blast to distract them, and Desertia's mastery over the ground allowed her to turn a rock above her foes into sand that would be slammed down on them.

She used the harsh pressure of the sand to send Eve down into the abyss first, making him only gain two points for Team Blue Pegasus, and Desertia manipulated the sand to slam down on Yuka as well. It harshly sent him down into the gaping hole while causing him to only earn three points for Team Lamia Scale, and only four competitors were left now. From this point on, Desertia would only try to sabotage or help someone who was about to win or fall. It would seem weird for her to help someone from Fairy Tail or Sabertooth, but let's just say that the ground let her know about a certain discussion between two fairies.

While the wielder of strong sand would just be watching what was going on, Sting had used his new spell to reach a large chunk of earth that was right next to the one where the flagpole was located. Standing in the blue-eyed male's way was none other than Natsu Dragneel, and both guys had been exchanging punches for a few minutes now. Sting kicked Natsu in the abdomen, before quickly using his left leg to trip him, but Natsu quickly got up while he gave Sting a pretty stern glare. Even though he hated what Lucy had said, what would come out of the fire dragon slayer's mouth would end up making him seem crazy.

"Listen up, you smug jerk! I hate the way that your stupid girlfriend flung those insults at me, but there's no way that you know a single thing about a sweet girl like Lucy! She was my girlfriend long before even knowing a guy like you, so quit acting like those kisses that you'll give are the best! My kisses and flirting skills are why Lucy loved me in Fairy Tail, and she saw me as a really cool guy! I hate her for moving on to a guy like you, since you're just scum!" Natsu told Sting in an aggressive tone, as flames engulfed his fists while feelings from his heart had once again made their way into his head.

Sting calmly replied to Natsu while looking miffed at his words, seeing that his head and heart pulled him in two different directions, "Wow, Salamander. You are a really dumb guy, you know that? You say how I don't know much about Lucy, yet it looks like you never knew how your affair with Lisanna would make her cry! I was there to comfort her while you and your lover were happy enough to send her away in a contest that she didn't even win, and your feelings of remorse now aren't enough to stop you from being the biggest hypocrite in the whole kingdom of Fiore."

Those words from Sting had made Natsu grow even angrier while he was about to use Fire Dragon's Sword Horn to slam into his fated rival, and flames engulfed his body while the fire dragon slayer was ready to fight for real. He had even jumped up into the air while forming a large fireball in his hands, and he threw it down at Wendy while using this as a way to show Sting that he was not to be messed with. Natsu sent the attack down towards Wendy, making it go towards her at high speeds, and there were no nearby rocks for Wendy to jump on. The young sky dragon slayer looked pretty scared to see such an enormous attack heading her way, unable to move while it gave off so much heat, and Wendy was about to scream in fear.

However, much to the shock of Sting and Natsu, a thick amount of sand coated Natsu's large attack while it also crushed the fire with so much pressure as well. The judges and spectators were all shocked to see the sand break apart in front of Wendy's face to reveal that nothing was there, which made Natsu be shocked at how Desertia negated his spell with that dense sand, and the orange-haired woman simply jumped off of the rock that she was on while smirking evilly. She landed on another rock, though, but Desertia fired six mud balls at the rock that Natsu stood on with Sting. After that, she jumped down from that rock to have a cloud of sand carry her down to Team Dark Almia's booth. She received four points for her team, which was pretty good.

Not wanting to take the risk of having Natsu strike her for trying to reach the flag, Wendy simply took a few steps back to find herself stepping on to a cloud of sand that the Earth Demon Slayer created for the young girl. It had been made while saving her from Natsu's attack, which could've killed Wendy, and the blue-haired girl looked a bit relieved while the sand cloud helped her float all the way to Team Fairy Tail B's booth. She got six points for her team, and no one could berate her for wanting to be away from an idiotic guy like Natsu. With only two people now remaining in the event, who was going to win the vital ten points?

As Natsu and Sting stood on opposite ends of the large chunk of earth that they stood on, both of them taking one step towards each other, the rock suddenly exploded in a massive orange blast of Earth Demon Slayer Magic! The force of it had sent Natsu falling back down towards the booth where Team Fairy Tail A was located while he took an immense amount of damage from Desertia's sneaky trick, and Sting got pushed all the way to the other rock while he ended up turning around quickly to make his mouth kiss the flagpole. Sting won the event, getting ten points for his team while Natsu only got eight, and he was lucky that the pole was not icy or cold to get his mouth or tongue stuck on it.

The rocks vanished into puffs of white smoke while Sting and the people who fell into the abyss were teleported back to the center of the Domus Flau, which was hastily made back to normal by magic from the organizers of the Grand Magic Games, and some people were shocked to hear the sound of Natsu crashing down into his team's booth after he finished falling for those few moments. He broke through some of the floor that they would need to walk on, groaning in a very groggy tone while he was clearly dazed from a headfirst smash into the hard ground, and some people even found it funny to laugh at that clown.

"Sting, that was really amazing! You were awesome out there, and I love how you smile onscreen! You're the best battler in the entire world, Sting! You stood up for me against that jerk, and I'm so lucky to have you as a boyfriend! I really love you, and we are definitely a great couple! Team Sabertooth is going to win the Grand Magic Games, and there is no chance that we'll lose!" Lucy told him with a happy smile on her face, after Sting jumped back up into Sabertooth's booth and did some victory poses for her.

"I did it all for you, my blonde-haired beauty. After all, I refuse to let anyone speak ill about my girlfriend and get away with a big win. Now that Natsu's riled up with the fact that you and I both managed to kick his butt, I wonder if he'll invade our inn and challenge Sabertooth like he did last year. If we does, then we can just throw him out after we beat him down." Sting replied while sharing a lovely kiss of victory with his girlfriend, and putting a dreamy look on her face when she blushed pink like cotton candy and seemed like she could swim in his eyes that were blue like the ocean.

Now that the event was over, Lucy had to wonder if she would have to fight today. The new spells of Plant Demon Slayer Magic were not fully tested out by her yet, as there were some that needed plant roots to be around for them to work, and that condition was not met yet. She also did not want to use all of her new spells before the final day or before the fated day when she faced Natsu, so Lucy only had some plant moves and all of the wind at her disposal. Could she win with just those two types of magic at her disposal, or would she lose like back in the Naval Battle when Minerva stole her keys?

* * *

><p><strong>10 more minutes later…<strong>

"All right, everyone! It's time to start the battle portion of the second day, and I have a feeling that these battles will be thrilling to watch!" Chapati exclaimed with an excited facial expression, as the overwhelming thrill made him stand on his chair with the microphone in his hands.

The first battle was between Desertia Sunaarashi from Team Dark Almia and Toby Horhorta from Team Lamia Scale, and the battle began when the dog-like guy had elongated his green nails to start off his attack. He charged straight at the orange-haired woman, as she simply frowned while keeping her arms folded, and Toby's slashes were stopped by his foe's sand shield getting in the way. He kept slashing at the sand, hoping to break through it, and Toby's efforts got him nowhere. Shelly and Lucy were both impressed with Desertia's defensive moves, as they were at a very high level, and one of those girls knew all too well about how painful Desertia's moves could be.

She simply sighed in a miffed manner, almost like Toby wasn't making this battle seem quite fun, and Desertia narrowed her orange eyes while using her right hand to command the sand to end this. It pulled back for a few moments while gathering up sand from the ground to create a clone of Desertia, which was entirely made from the brown sand, and Toby quickly slashed at it to defeat the clone. That was a big mistake, as that sand created a large orange blast of energy, and Toby was sent flying from the arena. His team got no points, and Desertia won the match to receive ten points for her team. That battle moved the demon slayers up a notch on the cool scale, really.

The second battle pitted Ren Akatsuki from Team Blue Pegasus up against Arania Webb from Team Mermaid Heel, and the match started off with the green-haired woman firing many webs at Ren. He easily dodged them all while charging up some power, seeing that Arania's skills did not change much from their battle in the previous year, and Ren finished this battle with the spell known as Aerial Phose. He swung both of his hands in a circular motion around his body, and the winds from this spell pulled Arania towards him.

Ren's move was in the form of a cyclone-like sphere, simply enveloping Arania while it destroyed her with its destructive winds, and she took a large amount of damage from this attack. It flung her high into the air, before she quickly fell to the ground, and the mage from Team Mermaid Heel had been defeated. Ren won the match with ease, gaining ten points for Team Blue Pegasus, and Team Mermaid Heel only had two points. While Kagura looked pretty stern about how her team was losing like this, she was secretly thinking about how taking down Desertia. That woman looked to be as tough as Erza and Minerva combined, and she beat Toby while holding back in power.

The third battle put Erza Scarlet from Team Fairy Tail A up against Rocker from Team Quatro Cerberus, and the scarlet-haired woman was fast at requipping into her Flame Empress Armor. She easily beat Rocker with one Flame Slash attack from the Flame Sword that was in her hands, and Erza gained ten crucial points for her team. Rocker's team still had zero points, which was kind of why this team seemed to be the comic relief in every year of the Grand Magic Games, and there was only one match left now. Even though it wasn't going to have the people from Sabertooth up against any of the Fairy Tail members who were controversial, would this match end up being good?

Shelly simply sighed in a nonchalant manner while folding her arms, as she leaned against the wall that was at the back of Sabertooth's booth, and she really didn't care about the fact that Lucy could just beat whoever would end up being her opponent. The woman with beautiful aqua blue eyes was just feeling a bit down about the fact that she had to see the power of Desertia once again, which was in a class much higher than her own, and Shelly was silently glad to not be on the receiving end of those earthy moves. That loss against the orange-haired woman really made Shelly see herself as being inferior to Lavana's crew, so all she could now was possibly cheer for Lucy.

Rogue and Frosch took notice of how the water-wielding woman was clearly sulking about her loss to Desertia, since Shelly had not battled in the few weeks prior to the Grand Magic Games, and the shadow dragon slayer looked a bit worried while he wanted to give some kind words of comfort to his icy friend. Even though Shelly could be cold and intense at times, she still tended to show some nice emotions of warmth. Rogue would probably be cheering a lot, which would possibly make Sting be shocked to hear how his friend would be so vocal, but Rogue would do it for Shelly. He really liked the bond that they had, and Frosch even told him to ask her out at some point in time.

Chapati announced while looking extremely thrilled for this next battle, as he had the small white piece of paper in his hand with the list of matches on it, "This next battle is a total thrill, everybody! It might get intense, especially since it's between two talented guilds, and this battle was a request from the king of Fiore! Let's give a rousing applause for the demon slayer of the seas, as well as the maiden of the water who will get mad if you hurt her icy guy, and it's Team Sabertooth versus Team Fairy Tail B! These two women both love the color blue, and it's Shelly Izumi up against Juvia Lockser!"

Upon hearing the first name get called, Lucy and Shelly were both a bit shocked to hear that the demon slayer of coldness was chosen to battle by the king's request. Lucy seemed a bit disappointed that she did not get to battle today, but Sting gave her a hug while letting her know that the survival tournament was where she'd have more access to areas with more plants. That would let her use more spells in battle, which would be really good, and Sting didn't even care that Shelly pushed past him while jumping from the booth's ledge to just win or take her defeat in stride. She just wanted to get it over with, even though Melinda was quick to start cheering her name like some of Shelly's fans in the crowd were currently doing.

Juvia jumped down from Team Fairy Tail B's booth while smiling happily at the thought of Gray cheering her name in a loving tone, even though he was just rooting for her in a friendly way, and the blue-haired woman even heard Gajeel tell her to not get careless around Shelly. Juvia was going to fight hard for Gray, really wanting to let him see her best skills, and she was going to take down Shelly with a good amount of magical power. As both of the women now looked pretty ready to battle, calmly shaking hands with each other while knowing that Fiore's king was watching, a gong was struck for the battle to now begin.

It started off with Juvia conjuring up rain from the clouds that were overhead, making them turn dark over the battlefield while they also began to grow larger in size, and these clouds produced a heavy amount of rain that only covered the battling area. Some of the spectators were wishing that the city of Crocus sold umbrellas for free right now, even though the audience would have a low chance of getting wet, and Juvia only used the clouds to create enough water for herself and Shelly to use. The black-haired woman could've also just filled the arena with large ice blocks that would melt from the sun's heat, which would make water appear, but this was fine as well.

The clouds stayed up in the sky, still letting rain pour heavily if more water would be needed at any point in the fight, and Juvia started off the fight with a Water Cyclone. She formed a circular torrent of water in front of her hands, before sending it straight towards Shelly, and the black-haired woman simply opened her mouth to take in all of the water from Juvia's attack. Shelly was a Water Demon Slayer, after all, so she could just drink someone else's water with ease. It did have the side effect of making her spit it all out in the form of a large bubble, not going into her stomach at all, and the bubble exploded in a large blue blast of Water Demon Slayer Magic! Its power made the watery battlefield roar with power, and this little sea was quite fierce.

Juvia was simply trying to test her out, wanting to see what Shelly was capable of, and she noticed how the heavy amount of rain pouring down from the sky was making the water level rise. Shelly was going to show Juvia the power of a demon slayer, even though this rain was making it a bit hard for her to think clearly, and she found herself blushing a bit from seeing that Rogue looked like he was cheering her on. The red-eyed male was smiling while he told Shelly to fight hard, as Frosch did a cheerful little gesture of blowing icy breath from his mouth to imitate the black-haired woman, and Shelly giggled a bit as she was now in the mood to show off some good skills.

However, her plans were halted for a bit because of the fact that she could sense that Juvia's amount of magical power would rival her own. The Rain Woman used her Water Magic to create seven whirlpools in the water, making them rise up from the ground to now look like cyclones, and Juvia slammed them all against Shelly at the same time. They made the sound of a large explosion while they had also made Shelly be slammed hard against the wall behind her, and the cyclones of water were filled with immense amounts of pressure as well! As the black-haired woman fell to her knees while feeling pained from Juvia's fierce attack, she shivered a bit from the coldness of her opponent's fierce water.

Juvia was glad to be impressing Gray, as she could hear him still cheering for her in a friendly way, and the blue-haired woman was not going to end up losing in front of him. She narrowed her blue eyes at Shelly, who winced in pain from the pressure of that last attack, and Juvia followed up with the spell known as Water Slicer. She fired several scythe-like blades of water at Shelly, which broke through some icicles that Shelly tried to create for the purpose of shielding herself, and the large pieces of ice fell into the water while the slicing projectiles smashed right into Shelly. She was trying to believe in herself, but seeing Desertia's cruel level of power had made the black-haired woman feel very inferior while she had to wonder if she was even good enough to fight alongside the others.

As Juvia was about to attack Shelly with several large waves of water that would slam down on her with tons of force, Rogue yelled to Shelly for her to hear him through the heavy rain, "Hey, Shelly! I know that you haven't fought any battles in the past three weeks, and it's got to be making you feel a bit scared to have seen Desertia's strength once again! There's no need to feel so worried about the fact that her eyes are on you right now, and don't let the water pressure or the scary pressure from the sand get to your head! I know that you want to knock Juvia around with your fancy moves, so don't think about anything else! Just trust in yourself, and you'll win! You're the most awesome girl that I've ever met, Shelly, so show me how fierce your water can be! Show me how cool and sexy you are, and I might just send you more blue roses!"

Everyone in the Domus Flau managed to hear Rogue's words, as they also noticed that Juvia's dark clouds in the sky were now turning white while the rain was beginning to cease, and Shelly looked up at him while she found herself blushing a light shade of pink. She always loved how Rogue could be so calm while he also seemed to be much more classy than Sting, but Shelly let out a happy sigh from remembering the lovely roses that were sent to her. She even loved to be in her lacy white bra and lacy white panties while being in Haruba Town with Rogue, and seeing him shirtless had really heated up her icy heart. Now that she had some good motivation while Juvia's clouds parted over the battlefield of water that was now knee-deep and nearly drowning Mato, this fight could now get a little more serious.

Shelly took notice of the fact that Juvia's waves were going to crash right into her, but she had confidence in her blue eyes while simply using a spell known as Ice Demon's Pause. This move made a white icy aura surround the hands of Shelly, and she simply moved her left hand all the way to her right side. The black-haired woman also moved her right hand all the way to her left side, and those movements created a white crescent-shaped icy aura in front of the waves. Juvia did not think much of it, as the waves could just tear right through it with ease, but she suddenly gasped in shock to see her waves get frozen from the slightest touch with the icy aura. Pretty chilled out, right?

Water still flowed around the frozen waves, since the icy aura was not in the water for it to freeze the aquatic field entirely, and Shelly used the Water Pulse spell on the water itself to create a blue blast of energy! It sent Shelly flying high into the air, making her now have an aerial view of the Domus Flau, and the blue-eyed woman used a new spell known as Water Demon's Jacuzzi. She simply shot out a blue ball of energy from her mouth, sending it far down towards the battlefield, and this attack gained power and speed on its descent to the field. This move also became light blue, reacting to the coldness of Shelly's ice, and Shelly would let some heat of her love for Rogue be known.

The light blue ball fell into the water to create a massive light blue blast of energy that shook the Domus Flau, making Juvia look shocked at how powerful Shelly could be, and the icy waves also shattered while they simply turned into ice floes that landed in the water that was now scalding hot. They began to melt in the bubbling water, which was making Juvia jump around in pain from the hot water, and steam rose up out of the battlefield while the large explosion of water drenched some of the people in the audience. Natsu's team was also drenched with water, and Erza was a little bit glad to get two hot showers in one day. This match was heating up, all right, but who would win?

Juvia made seven large blue bubbles of water rise up from the sea that had formed in the Domus Flau, making them waste no time in floating up towards Shelly, and the blue-haired girl had a good plan to throw off her opponent. The white icy aura remained around the hands of Shelly while she used her Ice Demon Slayer Magic to make an icy whip of tiny ice shards be in her right hand. She cracked the whip against all of the bubbles, which made a large light blue blast of energy be seen in the sky, and Shelly was boosted higher into the air. She saw the water from the bubbles fall back down to the stadium, but Shelly quickly guarded herself while she saw flying up into the air.

Juvia was not actually flying, since she used her Water Beam spell to propel herself off the ground while the light blue blast of energy had just transpired, and she wasted no time in floating behind Shelly to wrap her arms around the black-haired woman's waist. She flipped Shelly around to where they were both now upside-down in the air while the stadium was below them, and Juvia began to rotate with Shelly at very high speeds. She gripped her waist tightly spinning down to the watery battlefield with Shelly unable to escape, and the two women went crashing down into the bubbling hot sea! The impact made the sea of water roar with power, as the scalding waves rose up high enough to nearly hit some of the teams that were in their booths, and even the judges were nearly hit. Wow, was this battle getting to be pretty cool or what?

After a few seconds, Juvia rose up from the surface while Shelly's lifeless body floated up beside her. Team Sabertooth was amazed to see that their friend got beaten down, after such a good counterattack, but Rogue still looked calm while he was able to sense Shelly's magical power without having to see her. As he saw Shelly's body break apart with cracks forming on it, as water came out of her body, Rogue could only guess that Juvia fell for the old Water Clone trick. The real Shelly emerged from a puddle behind her, meaning that she must've been lucky enough to land in a Water Warp puddle when Juvia dropped her into the water, and Shelly secretly didn't attack at first because she was making Water Warp puddles in Juvia's sea. That's how Shelly survived such a frightening fall with no injuries to be seen, and this was the true power of a demon slayer.

There was no doubt about it that Shelly was using her hybrid abilities of water and ice in this fight, being smart to use them in unison with each other, and she even used Juvia's water to her advantage as well. Both of the girls were both feeling really warm from the effects of the scalding hot water, their hair and clothes soaking wet, and this battle would soon end. Shelly used a new spell known as Ice Demon's Frosty Blitz, and this spell made a light blue aura surround Shelly's body while she blushed at her sweet thoughts of Rogue. She moved at high speeds, faster than Juvia's eyes could track her, and Shelly ran around in a circle many times while only Lavana and the other members of Team Dark Almia could see her because they were used to moving ten times faster than normal.

She ran in circles around Juvia while her high speed of iciness was causing the scalding hot water to be frozen over by a layer of light blue ice, and Shelly began to hit the Rain Woman from all eight different directions! She was moving so incredibly fast while striking Juvia's body with frosty kicks and icy punches, but the finishing move would be when the ice quickly cracked to send Juvia down into the hot water that was at a pretty dangerous temperature. Those were no ordinary attacks, as every icy strike had chain power infused into it, and all 20 of those hits would build up to a pretty wicked effect. Shelly stood on an ice floe that went with the smart flow of being away from where Juvia had landed, and the icy effect was coming now.

In an instant, a massive blast of light blue icy energy filled the skies while it was causing an extreme amount of damage to Juvia! She suffered a fierce amount of pain while Shelly's attacks had numbed her body, leaving her unable to do anything, and the light blue blast changed to the color of being regular blue to show the intense power of the water that was scalding hot because of Shelly's fierce power. It was all burning Juvia while bringing pain to her as well, and the massive blast quickly faded away to simply let Juvia crash down from the sky to make a huge splash in the water. She was in serious pain while floating down to the bottom of her sea, never having battled any hybrid attacks like Shelly's, and the Water Demon Slayer was just too much for her to handle. Shelly did put healing properties in the water, though, since killing Juvia would be illegal.

As Shelly placed her hands into Juvia's water to absorb it all into her body for some magical power to be gained, Chapati exclaimed in an awestruck tone while him and the other judges had never seen such a crackerjack battle, "That was a very good battle of two beauties who are used to being in the briny blue, but this battle was really just too wild for words! I'm at a loss about where to begin, but I can guess that the king must be really pleased that he got to see such a fierce battle between two women! Shelly Izumi, the treasure hunter, wins ten points for Team Sabertooth! Even though Juvia was outstanding, Team Fairy Tail B gets nothing and stays tied in third place with the other team from their guild!"

While Shelly was through with taking in most of Juvia's water, the Rain Woman told her in a calm tone with a mix of curiosity while she now found herself struggling to stand up on the wet sandy ground, "That was a very good battle, Shelly. Even though Juvia really wanted to win for Gray-sama, she hopes that he was really pleased with how she fought hard to impress him. Juvia could hear someone calling out to you through the rain, and that must've given you the motive to fight much harder. Is he a very good boyfriend like Gray-sama, and do you ever dream of kissing his lips?"

Shelly replied in a tone that went from being stern to cute while looking down at Juvia with her cheeks turning pink from blushing at her opponent's last words, "Well, it's not like Rogue likes how sexy I am. We've never even shared a kiss, and please tell me that Frosch is not going around telling people about who Rogue loves. It's not like I don't dream of resting my head on his chest, since we're both so calm and cool, and even seeing him shirtless is enough to make my icy heart melt instantly like sweet ice cream."

At that moment, the black-haired woman simply jumped back into the booth where Team Sabertooth was located while Gray and Gajeel went down to the battlefield to help Juvia get to their team's booth for Wendy to heal her. Shelly was congratulated with hugs from Lucy and Sting, but she simply moved past them while wanting to change out of her soaked clothes and dry her wet hair. Shelly gave Rogue a soft smile while trying to hide her slight blush, pretty glad that he gave her those words of encouragement, and she was glad to soon hear Chapati say that the second day now came to a close. Even though the team planned to go have fun tonight, Shelly hoped that she wouldn't be flustered around Rogue to look like she was the most clumsy person ever.

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><p><strong>Later that night, at a restaurant...<strong>

Rogue and Frosch sat down at a table in one of the city's restaurants that was known for serving some very good pizza, as they were both eating a slice of the cheese pizza that the shadow dragon slayer had ordered while many golden french fries were added as a side dish, and the red-eyed male kept letting his mind think about how Shelly was so very cool in the battle today. She was very skilled at using Juvia's water to power up her own attacks, as they had never been that strong before, and Rogue really really wanted to congratulate her on winning in the fourth match today. Team Sabertooth had 40 points, and that fight was really amazing.

However, Rogue also knew that giving Shelly some personal space was also a good thing to do. She kept blushing while looking at him or thinking of him, most likely because of how she really wanted to impress him, and Frosch was the one who really saw the chemistry between his two friends. When Shelly would go out on a job in past, she'd normally ask Rogue to be by her side. She loved how he was a useful partner on missions, even hiding in the shadows with her to avoid getting caught by people who would be guarding some precious treasures, but Shelly never gave Rogue any kisses or hugs. She was such a stern demon slayer, and her gentle moments didn't really get seen so very often.

Even the toughest people didn't have to act so strict all the time, as seen with how Erza could show her loving side to Jellal, and Rogue really hoped that Shelly would show up here. He left a note in their room at the inn to tell her where to meet them, since she was taking a shower, and Rogue even blushed from hearing his partner sigh happily while she would be thinking aloud about him. He hightailed it out of their room to meet up with Lucy and Sting at the pizzeria in Crocus, even though those two were sitting at another table with Lector, and the shadow dragon slayer even had another plate of eight pizza slices on the table for Shelly to eat. Would she like this little date, though?

As Rogue was about to take another slice of pizza from the plate that he shared with Frosch, his eyes widened in shock while his hands went back to being on his lap because of what he was seeing. Shelly walked into the restaurant while wearing a white midriff shirt with a pair of orange shorts to match, as they really showed off the curves of her rear, and Shelly's beautiful black hair was tied up in a ponytail. She wore some black sandals to match her outfit, making her look hotter than all the fire that Lavana could conjure up, and Shelly had a cheerful look on her face while she also blushed a light shade of pink as well. Either she looked really hot, or Rogue was having a slight nosebleed for no reason.

She even put on some cherry red lipstick as well, and Shelly sat down at the table where Rogue was sitting with Frosch. She gave a pleased look the shadow dragon slayer while picking up a slice of pizza from the plate that still had all eight slices on it, and Shelly smiled softly while hoping that Rogue liked her skills in the battle against Juvia today. She really did want to hear him praise her, really hoping that he would not judge her by the sulking mood that was displayed earlier today because of Desertia's power in the event, and Shelly also hoped that a drink with two straws would soon be on the way. Not only was she thirsty for a soda, but she also hoped to do good on her first date.

Rogue spoke up in a tone that would go from calm to seeming a bit more praising, as the waiter passing by had put three large plastic cups of Coca-Cola on the table to deliver what Frosch ordered, "Shelly, you look really beautiful tonight. Well, you always look very pretty and I think that your fashion sense is having a good impact on the guild of Sabertooth. I really was glad to see you win that match today, and you really surprised Juvia with all of the power that you've got. I think that even Lavana's crew must've been really interested to see their former ally fight like a true demon slayer. Your strategy was really amazing, and that was a wondrous fight that involved water."

The black-haired woman replied sweetly while giggling a bit, blushing from the great praise that Rogue had just given her, "Thank you so very much for complimenting me, Rogue. I was just really worried about having to fight, since this was my first battle to come after my humiliating loss at the hands of Desertia, but I was able to hear your voice through all of Juvia's rain. You were cheering me on in that fight, and I even got to hear Frosch be excited from the way that I made Juvia's rough sea become my hot tub of scalding water. Sting told me earlier that I could've made the match be a bit more fun, but I don't think Lucy would like it if I froze him in ice to shut him up."

Frosch loved how his friends were having such a nice conversation, as they both looked very happy to be talking with each other, and they even began to have a conversation on why Sting would always yell about Shelly not wanting him to join her and Rogue on some jobs. That was because the Water Demon Slayer loved to spend some alone time with the black-haired male, not even really minding if Frosch would be going on the job with them, and taking tasks at the beach were the best ones because Shelly would be in a sexy bikini while Rogue would only be wearing his swim trunks. She loved to see him be shirtless, as it would let her see and feel all of his muscles.

Shelly could be quite seductive, even though she never once bought anything for Rogue or blew a kiss to him, and she would always think about the day when Rogue fell into one of the guild's hot springs on a day for mixed bathing. He had risen to the surface in a different corner of the hot spring to see that Shelly's breasts were right in front of his face, making him blush as he had to wonder if they would be really soft like Yukino's, and she only gave him a sly smile while caressing his cheeks gently with her hands. Shelly liked how Rogue could be honest about not trying to make any slick moves in an attempt to satisfy any pervy desires, and she really found him to be a tolerable guy.

As all three members from Sabertooth were enjoying the pizza that they were eating, Shelly could feel her heart beating with warmth while she chewed on her second slice. She loved how Rogue was so calm and kind, even to the point where he took her left hand in his to tell her that she was more beautiful than how the city of Crocus would look at night, and Shelly even thought about the time that Rogue saved her from a group of bandits that tried frisking her for any treasure. She really did need to thank him for helping her out on so many jobs, and let's just say that Shelly thought of the perfect way to do it without any words having to be spoken from her mouth.

She got up for a moment to stretch while Rogue also got up to tell one of the waiters that they'd be taking the food to go, and Shelly walked a few steps over to Rogue while kindly smiling at him. She blushed a light shade of pink while wrapping her arms around his neck, and Rogue blushed as well while Shelly pressed her lips against his with gentle ease. That was her little thank-you-gift to him for cheering her on today, and Shelly could also feel that Rogue was kissing back while he wrapped his arms around her waist. They both closed their eyes while they shared the lovely kiss, before opening them while blushing, and Shelly back down at the table with the food plates of pizzas while she had enjoyed that kiss.

The blue-eyed woman put her left hand by her left cheek while she looked to be truly smitten with Rogue, finding the kiss to be so very sweet with how she loved the way that his arms wrapped around her waist, and Shelly did not even care that Desertia was walking past the table while simply scoffing at how Shelly looked like she was so in love right now. The Earth Demon Slayer thought that romance could only make people soft, since it made Lucy and Sting end up in a draw with her while Shelly lost to her, and the orange-haired villain did not really think much of Shelly's 20-minute match because she could've beat Juvia in only two little minutes. Wasn't she pretty arrogant?

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><p>Lucy and Sting were sitting at a table on the other side of the pizzeria, even though they were sitting two tables away from where Shelly and Rogue had their kiss of romance, and the brown-eyed girl was simply eating a large plate of nachos that were covered in hot cheese while Sting and Lector were eating two large plates of hot wings. She sat across from them while everyone was still in their usual attire, pretty glad that the team was on a really good win streak, and this was definitely a nice feeling of redemption for the respective forfeits and flops of Sting and Yukino on the second day of last year's Grand Magic Games. Sabertooth was really bringing the heat, were they not?<p>

Even though the blonde girl did not get to battle today, which left her feeling a bit frustrated, she had to admit that it was a real honor for Shelly and Juvia to have a battle at the king's request. He was the one who requested that Arcadios arrange the match-up, which came out fine because Toma E. Fiore had asked to see the mistress of ice from Sabertooth go up against the woman who wielded water from Fairy Tail, and that match by itself got seven million views on all of the televisions that were showing the Grand Magic Games. People tuned into their TVs and watched the Lacrima Vision screens, and it was because Juvia and Shelly were two famous women with tons of ferocity.

Lucy was also glad to see that Sting fired back at Natsu for the way that the fire dragon slayer tried to act like he still had some love for his ex, which was something that the user of ten Celestial Spirits found to be quite creepy, and Lucy really wanted to puke from how Natsu said that he hated to see her dating a guy like Sting. It was almost like he was forgetting the fact that he cheated on her with Lisanna, which was the main point of why the whole conflict had ignited in the first place, and Natsu was a total idiot. Lucy could assume that her ex only wanted some sympathy from her, even though he had no chance of reconnecting with her at all, and she wanted to leave Natsu behind.

On their way to the pizzeria, Lucy and Sting ignored the sight of Natsu getting beaten by Erza and Lisanna in the restaurant that was across the street, and Natsu's white-haired girlfriend wanted to know why he had sounding so nice about Lucy. She no longer wanted to be around a cheater like him, and Lisanna would even force her dense lover to purge his feelings for Lucy. There was no way to really say much on how that would be done, since Lisanna could even think of beating him up for a few hours, but that would just lead to Team Fairy Tail A imploding more than it already was. Lucy did not really want to concern herself with their stupid problems, anyway.

As she looked up from her food to see that Sting and Lector were having their own conversation about how they heard some rumors about the field for the third day of the Grand Magic Games while they both smiled confidently about this leaked info, Lucy took notice of how Melinda was walking over to their table with a calm smile on her face. What could she possibly want with them, since Shelly was the one who scored the great victory in the event, and why was the Darkness Demon Slayer not at the table with her? Lucy did not really speak with Melinda that much, as well as feeling freaked out about how Desertia was in the pizzeria, and she wondered what this girl had to say.

Melinda asked Lucy with a happy smile on her face while seeming really psyched up about the fact that today's fourth battle was just amazing, "Hey, little Lucy! Did you totally see how Shelly beat down that blue-haired girl in such a groovy way, after just taking all those harsh blows from those watery attacks? I almost thought that Shelly would get sunk down in a fight like that, and that would've been a major bummer for all of us demon slayers. Some of them want to fight you while others want to fight Shelly, and the others just like to fight each other. Anyway, are you at the level to where you have the natural skill of enhanced hearing? During the battle, I heard Shelly tell Juvia that she really loves Rogue. They are a very cute pairing, and their love is so mondo while being so unexpected to what my vibes sense."

Desertia thought to herself while hearing about what was going on, really wanting to know if a guy like Rogue was dumb enough to really fall for someone who was as weak as Shelly was while she tried hard to be sexy, "_I swear, Rogue is one of the dumbest fools who could be a dragon slayer. We don't want a traitor like Shelly to flip back with us, even if her battle was so pleasing to the crowd, and being fifth-ranked does not mean a thing. The replacement can easily be found, and Lavana would agree with me and Heidi about how clever it would be to give quite a shock to Miss Smitten-In-Love. There's also a little surprise for Lucy and Sting, too, since the past catches up quite fast."_

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 19? Did you like it? College work kept this chapter from being updated earlier, and I apologize for that. Sorry if StiCy wasn't the pairing in this chapter, as RoShe had the shadowy moment to shine, but more love is coming up! Lucy will get a battle soon, and it shall be pretty interesting for her. Sting will get to show off more moves in this arc, and Natsu could maintain his love for Lisanna while a certain incident makes the NaLi and NaLu both stay possible. What will happen on the next day, as Lucy could be chosen to fight? Will luck be on her side? What happens when Sting takes a sniff of Lavana? Standby for the update!<strong>


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Grand Magic Games, Day 3<strong>

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><p>Lucy and the other members of Team Sabertooth had decided to get up early for the chance to do some sightseeing before the tournament would once again occur, and it never hurt anybody to just have a bit of fun before going into something that would seem serious. Today was the third day of the Grand Magic Games, the same day that Fairy Tail had their best performances in the tournament last year, and Lucy was feeling good about the possibility of eventually facing off against someone from the guild of her past. That would be putting the blonde girl in a fight against the people who seemed to judge her and supposedly have love for her past self, and Lucy would show those fairies that her current self was very different.<p>

After all, this day and the fourth day were the only two days left before the final battles would begin. There was a bit of a chance that Fairy Tail and Sabertooth would cross paths again like how they had done in the tag-team battle, thrilling the entire viewing world, and Lucy was going to win that fight. She had been feeling really good about the team's power, ever since Shelly Izumi had defeated Juvia Lockser in a battle that was requested by the king while both girls made the sea-like field roar with the power of scalding hot water, but Lucy still did not know if there would be a chance for her to have a one-on-one match with anyone. Would Lucy get that chance to shine in a fight, or would she always stay in the dark?

She was still thinking about the fact that her Plant Demon Slayer Magic would just be futile on a sandy field with no plant roots, even though some of her spells did not require trees to grow out of the ground for powerful moves to be made, and Lucy's Wind Demon Slayer Magic could be a little too dangerous to use by itself. If the powerful waves used by Juvia and Shelly could drench people with boiling water, then the winds of Lucy could end up blowing people away. She would not want any people to be sent into the air, since they would possibly fall down to the ground or crash through a dense building on their descent, and Lucy did not want Team Sabertooth to be slammed with many lawsuits.

Yesterday had been a good day for the guild of Sabertooth, since the team had earned 20 points on the second day of the Grand Magic Games, and there were no events like Chariot or bets that involved people risking their lives. Lucy was really glad to know that her team was doing so well against Fairy Tail, especially when Sting had almost beaten down Natsu for talking trash about her in a public stadium, and she still found herself to be laughing at how her ex had been sent crashing back down to his team's booth from an attack with a delayed effect that was used by Desertia from Team Dark Almia. It was like the fire dragon slayer had been unlucky to be struck by the orange-haired woman's fierce power, and Lucy was glad to see that such a big jerk had a huge downfall. Really, Natsu was truly deserving of all the bad karma he had been getting.

Lucy and Sting were in the art gallery of the main museum located in Crocus, looking at many of the beautiful paintings that were on the walls, and each painting was situated perfectly in a golden frame. There were paintings of the Fairy Tail guild, a painting of Galuna Island, and there were even portraits of mages like Zeref. He surely wouldn't be posing for a picture, but he seemed to be sleeping in one painting. Whoever managed to paint that sight without being killed was certainly lucky, were they not? They also could've gotten killed if the colors were wrong, too, so this person was lucky to be precise and cautious while making a work of art featuring Zeref.

Lucy's outfit today consisted of a sky blue T-shirt with a viridian green miniskirt to match, and her flat shoes were red. She wore her blonde hair in a side ponytail on the left side of her head, and Lucy looked fashionable as always. She smiled happily while standing next to Sting, both of them admiring a portrait of two people romantically kissing at a cafe, and Lucy sighed happily while hugging the guy who was certainly her best boyfriend. Lucy felt so happy to be around Sting, especially since he cared so much about her, and the white dragon slayer was such a kind guy. He was like the sunlight to her plants, meaning that he made her days brighter while also helping her grow stronger.

After seeing him technically defeat Natsu in the event on the previous day of the Grand Magic Games, Lucy was glad to know that Sting loved her enough to not let a jerk like Natsu get away with talking bad about her. She had really wanted to personally make that jerk pay, though, since the conflict was more intense between the two of them. Lucy still found herself giggling a bit at the fact that Natsu did not even care about what Desertia could do, and she could guess that Lisanna was going to give him a long lecture about not being so fixated on one opponent. It wasn't his fault that the event greatly coincided with the skills of Earth Demon Slayer, but it was still his fault for getting careless about a person who was not his main enemy.

"Yesterday was so great, Sting. You encouraged me to do my best, and I won the match. We even got to see Natsu lose in the event that got quite rocky and explosive because of Desertia being so sadistic, and Erza probably isn't too happy about that. You did really good in the event, and that new move of yours was really cool. If you have a battle today, I'll definitely be cheering for you because I have faith in you. I know that you'll win, Sting." Lucy told him in a kind manner, smiling happily with joy twinkling in her beautiful cocoa brown eyes that looked lovelier than chocolate, before giving him a soft and lovely kiss to his left cheek.

The white dragon slayer replied calmly, smirking with his usual high amount of confidence while he did love Lucy's kisses, "Thank you, Lucy. It makes me happy to hear you say that, you know. I'll definitely win for you if I have a battle, and the event probably won't be too hard for you or Rogue to do. Hearing you cheer me on would be the best sound in the world to me, and I agree with you about how Natsu totally got careless about the huge power of Desertia. I can tell that her name is similar to the sand being really dangerous in the desert, but she is evil enough to be a demon. That's more fitting than calling her a demon slayer, in my honest opinion, and she could hit Natsu with mud balls that would really damage a guy's tender area."

That last remark about Natsu made Lucy giggle happily, definitely knowing that it was certainly true, and she was really glad to have a guy like Sting as her boyfriend. Not only was he so powerful, confident, smart, and totally hot, but he was also a pretty nice guy who could tell very funny jokes. Lucy always laughed at any puns that he would come up with, such as when they once fought a few enemies in a cave near the town of Nibi, and the fact that those guys were wielding spears made Sting say that they looked like they had a few points to make. Even though that was a pretty corny joke, Lucy still found it to be quite funny.

Since the Grand Magic Games started in an hour, with a ticking clock interestingly placed above a portrait of a clock, Sting and Lucy both blushed at each other before they smiled and shared a passionate kiss. Their love was certainly great to see, and their chemistry really helped with their teamwork as well. Sting and Lucy were a pretty good duo, even though they never used their abilities in combinations with each other to make a Unison Raid, and they certainly were a cute couple. The blue-eyed male smirked at Lucy, before challenging her to a race to the Domus Flau, and Lucy giggled playfully while chasing after him to make sure that he would at least buy her something to eat on their way to the arena.

While they had ran off to have some fun and enjoy the tournament, Lucy and Sting did not even know that Shelly and Rogue had shared their first kiss on the previous night of the Grand Magic Games. The two mages had been in a different area of the museum, getting to see all of the cute items that were in the gift shop, and this nice gift shop of the museum in Crocus was just as nice as the gift shop back at the guild of Sabertooth. There were T-shirts, desserts, eight flags that were in eight different colors to represent each team, and this gift shop also had snacks as well. The glass doors behind the booth to gift shop were a way of exiting the museum, and they were automatic to let people in or have them walk out.

Shelly and Rogue were both wondering about what they could buy, since they both earned tons of money on jobs, and they did not want to spend every single jewel that was in their wallets. Both of the mages looked at each other with soft smiles on their faces, almost like they were calm enough to understand the thoughts of each other, and Shelly blushed a light shade of pink while she was glad to now be dating the shadow dragon slayer. Rogue had been kind enough to take her to the museum on this fine morning, and the peaceful setting with lovely classical music playing throughout the building from a speaker in the ceiling also added a nice touch to the atmosphere.

This was also the first time that Shelly had been in love, since other males from the past had tried to flirt with her while they would also fail to succeed, and the blue-eyed demon slayer felt so very comfortable around her red-eyed dragon slayer. She gently rested her head on his left shoulder, really hoping that no bad moves would be made in this relationship, and Shelly really wanted to be a great girlfriend for Rogue. Her stern personality, along with Shelly's own icy attitude, were qualities that he really liked to see, and Shelly's high level of intelligence also made Rogue get along with her quite well. Shelly's level of power was also quite high, which was totally awesome.

One fact that seemed quite interesting for this pair of lovers was that Shelly had been a fierce villain in the past while Rogue vowed to never become evil like his future self. In a sense, the cold villain with beauty and brains was now feeling happy while she loved the sophistication and calm attitude of her shadowy hero. Water Demon Slayer Magic and Shadow Dragon Slayer Magic did not seem to really go with each other, but those two elements could create a dark blue love that looked great like two people kissing under the moonlight of the night sky. Shelly even envisioned that romantic fantasy last night, but she did not want to move too quickly with Rogue.

As the duo still looked pretty calm what they could buy, unaware that Lucy and Sting left the museum 10 minutes ago, Shelly looked a bit shocked while taking notice of the gift shop's digital clock telling her and Rogue that the current time was now 8:10 in the morning. The two mages had 50 minutes left before the third day of the Grand Magic Games would start, so Shelly took her boyfriend's left hand in her right hand while running out of the museum to hasten the trip to the Domus Flau. She used her icy speed to hasten the trip to the Domus Flau, making Rogue hang on tightly, but this little cameo of their romance would not be the last time that their love for each other would be seen.

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Domus Flau...<strong>

Natsu had looked pretty beaten up for losing so badly in the event yesterday, since he made a major flop by not keeping an eye on Desertia, and Erza had obviously given him a left black eye. She wasn't the type of person who liked to lose, and she certainly did not want to lose the Grand Magic Games against any of the other competing guilds. Team Fairy Tail A was currently in third place with 24 points while Team Fairy Tail B was also in third place with 24 points to be the worst of the best. It was all because of Team Dark Almia messing with Fairy Tail for the first two days, especially when Desertia knew how that rocky platform would break apart to make Natsu lose, but Erza knew a cheap move like that on the second day was not against the rules. She had still not suspected Lavana's team of any foul play, since they didn't openly cheat.

However, the scarlet-haired mage also had no clue that Team Dark Almia was a light guild. Even though she did not know that Lavana took out all of the people in that guild to turn it into one of her hot places for paradise, as she was not some cliched villain who was bent on causing darkness to fill the skies while the world would be destroyed, Erza had to wonder why that team of demon slayers was permitted to compete with only four members. It was quite possible that their fifth member could've been seen in the preliminary round, if there had been one, and that would explain how their team's paperwork was fully filled out. After all, the signatures of five mages from each teams were needed on the waiver forms.

Erza's thoughts also went to the fact that Shelly Izumi and Juvia Lockser were in quite a raging battle of Water Magic, making their aquatic sea become filled with water that could scald people, and Shelly even cooled all of the water down with her glacial ice that was colder than anything that Gray or Lyon could create. The black-haired woman also numbed Juvia's body with icy air that could go inside her body to freeze her from inside-out, making the exterior of her body feel really numb, and ending that fight with a large blast of boiling hot water really made it be one of the coolest fights that anyone in Fiore ever saw. Even the king was greatly pleased with the match, since he hoped that it would not be a bad setup. While Erza thought that her team could do something just as great, Natsu looked ready to panic.

The fire dragon slayer was certainly getting his bad karma for what he done, and he looked nervous while being in Team Fairy Tail A's booth to see that Lisanna sternly glared at him while using her Take-Over ability only on her hands to show him her sharp Tigress claws that were ready to maul the pink-haired male when that time came around. Lisanna did not hate Natsu now, but she was simply giving him a warning for him to never pull a shocking stunt like how he seemed to feel some for Lucy on the previous day. She was simply telling him that he would get mauled, should he ever show any signs of ever being disloyal to the girl that he wanted to be with.

There was no way that Natsu could ever tell the white-haired mage about the feelings that he had for Lucy, since it would just cause tons of drama in the guild of Fairy Tail, and it would definitely make his rep become worse than it already was. He had cheated on Lucy with Lisanna because he needed some excitement, but now he was putting that affair aside because of how he thought that Sting wasn't right for Lucy? None of this would have even transpired, had Natsu not thought that he could cheat on Lucy to be with someone who he thought was better. The guilt from being a cheater had worked its way into his mind, and Lucy's cute voice assisted the guilt in making Natsu groan in frustration to the point where he wanted to repeatedly slam his own dense head into the concrete walls of the booth

"I don't know what made you be off your game yesterday when you had the opportunity to take down Sting in a matter of seconds, Natsu, but you better get your act together today. We're lucky to not be in fourth place, and we can't afford any more mess-ups. If you lose anything else for us, or ignore any crucial enemies like how you ignored Desertia, then you can guarantee that I will make your life become miserable in Fairy Tail. Really, I don't know why you were so focused on getting Sting out of the event. In an eight-way battle, you have to take out the biggest threat before it sneakily ruins your chance to get first place." Erza sternly told him while narrowing her brown eyes, ready to pound some sense into his head.

The fire dragon slayer replied while looking annoyed, muttering under his breath, "I don't see why you and everyone else in the city of Crocus is making such a big deal about all of these demon slayers in Fiore, Erza, and they probably aren't even that powerful. You've seen people like me and Gajeel fight while using impressive skills, and I don't know why the whole crowd acted like Shelly's match against Juvia was the best fight that could ever be seen. They got me soaking wet, for crying out loud, and you've been so focused on some demon slayer named Lavana because of how she kicked your butt in the Magma Cavern. You were the idiotic fool who tried to take her on, not me."

Erza angrily asked him to say that louder to her, not hearing exactly what he had said, and Natsu looked a bit scared while putting his hands up in a defensive manner. He really had a habit of not thinking before he spoke, often saying the wrong things loudly to make himself look bad, but Natsu was lucky this time. He simply scowled in a frustrated manner while hearing Gajeel and Laxus both snicker at his misfortune, making the fire dragon slayer sigh sadly at the fact that he was now in a lose-lose situation with the suspicions that came from Erza and Lisanna.

At least he was now learning the biggest life lesson, involving the fact that feelings for an ex should never be cared for over loyalty to a current partner, and fate would probably make drama happen while also making it be out of Natsu's control. That would be the perfect way to teach him about being honest to the woman that he loved, especially when their one-year anniversary was happening soon, and the fire dragon slayer knew that Lisanna had been speaking to him about planning the event. While it had initially seemed like a good idea for a party, let's just say that the night of celebration would be far less exciting than the thought of a jealous Lucy puking on the cake that Natsu would eat with Lisanna.

Natsu also wanted to know why the red-haired woman named Lavana was getting so much praise from people, as she had not even done a single event or fought in a single battle for her team in the Grand Magic Games, and he could not comprehend why people were even so glad to be taking pictures with her as well. The paparazzi even watched her every move while she ate a red velvet cake and drank sugary tea at a cafe, and Natsu's team could not even get to eat their breakfast in peace because of how customers were cheering happily to see Lavana sign autographs for them. She was the great Lavana Kasai, the mistress of fire, and no one cared for the news on Fairy Tail.

It seemed to be pretty troublesome for Team Fairy Tail A, as they could not even talk to any of the fans without some of those people wanting to know about when they would see Lavana in action, and Erza would look pretty irked by a question that really had no definite answer while Mira would sweetly tell the fans that they'd have to simply wait for when the time was right. Natsu gritted his teeth in disgust, thinking that the Fire Demon Slayer named Lavana was over-hyped, and he really hoped that she would not be a powerful person like the Flame God Slayer who was known as Zancrow. After all, Natsu mostly took a flaming beating in the fight against that dark mage on Tenrou Island.

With no real info on what Lavana could really do, since Erza had no chance against her in the fight that took place in the Magma Cavern, Natsu really had to wonder if Team Dark Almia's female foursome was like a bad omen to the fairies. In the past two events of the Grand Magic Games, Heidi and Desertia respectively played indirect and direct roles in causing Team Fairy Tail A to not get first place. Four was normally a number for bad luck, which could make Lavana's group be seen as the team who causes it, and Natsu could guess that he'd have to try eating Lavana's flames at some point. However, her cosmic abilities of the heavens could also prove to be quite cataclysmic in a battle.

* * *

><p><strong>10 minutes later...<strong>

Lucy and Sting made it to their team's booth to see that the rest of their team had gotten there before they did, but it did not really matter that much. Everyone wondered the event of the third day would be, hoping that it wouldn't require so much creativity like Contest Master or be pretty deadly like Earthy Hopscotch, and some people were actually happy that the events were different than the ones from last year because they did not want to participate in games like Pandemonium or Hidden. After all, those events were pretty tough. Whatever the contest would end up being, it would possibly end up being a total pain in the butt for some people.

Either way, the game would have some kind of twist to it to most likely prevent anyone from making a straightforward strategy that would help them win easily. That would efface anyone's hopes of saying that the games were mediocre, since they certainly were not. Of course, there were ways around the stern rules of each event. Some people who were smart like Lucy could find the malleability in the rules, and crafty people like Heidi could pull really sneaky without anybody seeing or sensing a single thing. This event would probably be interesting, anyway. This day would have an interesting twist to the battle part as well, due to yesterday's high ratings, but what would it be?

"Welcome to the third day of the Grand Magic Games, ladies and gentlemen! I can tell that Sabertooth is really letting us all know that they plan to make quite a comeback, but Team Dark Almia and the Fairy Tail teams aren't too far behind! They aren't getting lazy about this competition, and Fairy Tail could come from behind to win! Will they ever have the chance to regain first place, and can anyone topple them down? We'll have to see what thrills us all today!" Chapati exclaimed with an excited facial expression, wanting to see some more raging battles like Shelly's battle against Juvia from Team Fairy Tail B.

"Let's see who is the best at working in sync with their magic, shall we?" Yajima commented, as a smile found its way on to his face.

The guest judge for the third day was Jura Neekis, the man who had been known as "Iron Rock Jura" for how he could use his Earth Magic to harden the ground, and he was also a member of Team Lamia Scale. His team did not mind that he would have to be a guest judge for the day, since having one of the Ten Great Wizard Saints as a commentator would allow Lamia Scale to get a bigger fan base, and Lyon Vastia hoped that some of the original competitors from last year could topple down the demon slayers. He disliked hearing people ask him about what he thought of Shelly's icy moves, since that was the same demonic ice that made Juvia's body get numb while she also took massive damage from its chain power, and Lyon told those fans of Shelly that anyone who hurt the lovely Juvia would find out that true ice could freeze more than it could be fancy.

While Lucy and Sting were both looking excited about the upcoming event, ready to help Sabertooth win once again while the other members of their team were ready to help them out as well, Yukino hoped that the team would not feel too safe. Just because Fairy Tail was down in third place right now, that simply made the Celestial Spirit Mage frown a bit while she knew that the biggest threat in the Grand Magic Games was Team Dark Almia. Yukino heard about how Shelly defeated Skyla while Lucy also ate the green-haired woman's Wind Demon Slayer Magic, but Skyla's one type of magic was not as much of a concern when it was compared to the fact that Lavana Kasai had two types of magic.

On top of that little fact, the beautiful woman with red hair had not even battled yet or chose to be in any of the events. Even though her skills were still unseen, which meant that there was no real info on the specific spells or fighting style used by Lavana, Yukino had heard from Shelly that her fiery former friend was far too dangerous for anyone to confidently take her on in a fight. Lavana could heat up a fight to some dangerous levels of flaming power, as there was a rumor about her taking in nearly all of the Fire Demon Magic from the demon who taught it to her, and those flames could really end up killing someone.

Everyone turned their attention to Chapati when he announced the event for the third day of the Grand Magic Games, and he surprisingly announced that this event would be quite a major change for everyone who competed in last year's tournament. The event was known as "Carnival Champion", and its name made some people scoff at how kiddish it sounded. This would surprisingly be a true game of skill, as one bad move could make a person end up losing in this event, and precision would truly be a great asset in this event. Balance was also required in this event, even though its one rule would really just be quite simple.

Carnival games had never really been a part of the Grand Magic Games in the past years, since those types of games would really make some people angry enough at the fact that they could not get ping-pong balls into fishbowls, and some people like Rufus looked a bit shocked at this. He could not memorize or cheat to change things that would occur in a game of luck, and this game would probably be testing how well someone knew about physics. Let's just say that using too much force could really prove to be a fatal move that would damage a person's chance of winning, so power by itself was an empty threat.

Magic was allowed in this event, as it could be used to help the mages get up to certain areas in this little contest, but this event could be hard for some people. Gajeel volunteered to do this event for Team Fairy Tail B, much to Juvia's disdain because she had wanted to see Gray compete, but the iron dragon slayer grinned confidently while knowing that he always had pretty good luck. Team Fairy Tail B chose Lisanna to represent them because she wanted to do it, and Rogue surprised some people on his team by wanting to be in this event for Team Sabertooth. He kindly smiled at Shelly, who simply blushed at how he'd be doing it for her.

The fact that Shelly's boyfriend had decided to step up for this event was something that Skyla smirked evilly about, thinking that it would be fun for her to mess with him to throw off Shelly's current emotion of joy, but Lavana shook her head in disapproval while a safer plan had been in her mind. If they mess with Fairy Tail, as opposed to thrashing Sabertooth, that would be a nice bit of payback for how Lavana overheard Natsu shooting his big mouth off about how the Fire Demon Slayer was supposedly an over-hyped diva with no real flames. Just because he had never heard of her, that didn't mean Lavana Kasai wasn't famous. She made Skyla be in the event for Team Dark Almia, and Lavana also vowed to make a certain mouthy guy regret his words.

Chelia Blendy decided to join in on the game for Team Lamia Scale, and Hibiki Lates volunteered to try and win the event for Team Blue Pegasus. Kagura allowed Milliana to participate in the event for Team Mermaid Heel, and Bacchus was going to try and win this event for Team Quatro Cerberus because he was pretty good at knocking down large stacks of booze bottles with only one baseball. Even if the event would have to be a contest where the participants had to see who could eat the most cotton candy, it would still be a carnival game. Really, this would possibly be more fun than riding a roller coaster or eating ice cream.

He commanded the field to open, simply having the mages behind the scenes use magic to create what appeared to be eight small round tables in the respective colors for each team, and eight glass bottles stood together in a circle on every table. People soon found stacks of rings appearing in front of them, and Chelia smiled nicely at how she liked that Lamia Scale's table and rings were green while Hibiki liked how the table and rings of Blue Pegasus were in the cool color of blue. Bacchus got the color brown, Milliana got pink, Skyla got purple, Rogue got yellow, Gajeel got orange, and Lisanna got the color red.

Mato told the eight mages that they all had to simply get those small rings around each one of the bottles on their table, and this could be done by throwing them or using magic. If a ring did not land on or around a battle, then the thrower of the ring would be out of the challenge. If a bottle fell off of the table, the person who was aiming for the table would be out of the challenge. If the force of some magic or the force of a throw was powerful enough to break one of the glass bottles, then the person who broke the bottle would lose the challenge. To put it simply, this was a game that involved skill and control. People could throw at their own pace, just to let them have that bit of relief.

When the gong was struck for the event to begin, Bacchus looked a bit cocky while he used his immense amount of speed to throw all eight rings at the bottles on the brown table. He had also employed his Palm Magic into the rings by striking them with his palms, thinking that all of that power would make them land on the bottles, but all of his rings ended up breaking the bottles at a very quick right. The sober male was sent back to the booth of Team Quatro Cerberus with no points for his team, which made a drinker like Cana feel a bit bad for him, and Skyla was the only person in the event who snickered about that guy playing way too hard in the first moment of the game.

Milliana smiled happily while using her Cat Binding Tubes to grab all of the rings, before she was going to gently put them all on the bottles that were on her pink table, but Skyla slyly exhaled a breath of wind at Milliana's table to make one of the glass bottles fall on the ground. Since it was off the table, Team Mermaid Heel was now ousted from the event. Milliana only got one point for her team, thanks to Skyla being able to exhale a large amount of wind that made the bottles be titled off-balance, and Kagura looked a bit stern while she knew that the bottle didn't fall on its own. Team Dark Almia caught her interest, and those guys really knew how to shake up an entire game.

Hibiki was pretty calm while he used his great knowledge of physics and trajectory to throw the blue rings at the glass bottles on the blue table, making seven rings perfectly land on seven of the bottles, but Skyla exhaled more air to make a shield of wind be right in front of Hibiki. His last ring bounced back to hit him in the face, and he was eliminated while getting only 2 points. Chelia got four green rings on the bottles that were on her green table, but her fifth ring went way off target because of Skyla making a gust of wind make the ring go on a curved path that was only an inch away from the bottles. Chelia received three points for Team Lamia Scale, and she looked a bit puzzled at how that throw was so off target.

Rogue still looked calm while all of this drama was going on, even as Gajeel looked like he wanted to know why Skyla was making such dirty moves, and the shadow dragon slayer simply thought of showing off for Shelly. Even though it would be a bit weird for him to be flaunting his skills for impress the girl he loved, Rogue simply made some elegant throws that made all of the yellow rings land on all of the bottles with ease. He looked up at Shelly, who cheered happily from seeing Rogue make such great throws that also seemed very gentle, and the red-eyed male was glad to hear that Team Sabertooth got ten points. This was the first time in the five-day contest where the event had not been won by default, as Lucy won by default while Sting would've won by default if he had not ended up kissing the flagpole, so Rogue and Shelly felt pretty proud.

With Rogue now having taken the chance of winning away from Sabertooth, which caused Gajeel and Lisanna to simply clap for him, Skyla used her Wind Demon Slayer Magic to make an air current go into one of the bottles on Lisanna's red table. A light green aura surrounded that bottle for a few seconds, before it exploded in a light green blast of energy, and four other bottles were caught in the blast! The crowd was shocked to see that Lisanna's chances of winning were now gone, with Natsu really looking surprised at how the game blew up in Lisanna's face, and Team Fairy Tail A received six points. Payback could truly be brought down upon the fairies, but would that really be a sufficient amount to satisfy the great Lavana?

Gajeel ended up getting eight points by default for Team Fairy Tail B, since Skyla also quit the game before she wreaked havoc on Lisanna, and Team Dark Almia received four points once again. Everyone went back to the booths where their respective teams were waiting, as the tables and bottles vanished from the arena, and Rogue was pretty glad to be getting so many great cheers from the crowd. Some cute girls were even blowing kisses to him while they loved how he was so handsome, which made Shelly look like she wanted to freeze the crowds in thick layers of ice to shut them up, but Rogue vanished into the shadows to quickly appear behind Shelly in their team's booth.

The beautiful woman with aqua blue eyes turned around to face the man who she loved, still having her hair up in a ponytail while she wore the same clothes from her nice date with Rogue, and Shelly gave him a soft kiss on the lips. Rogue returned her kiss with a gentle one, blushing a light shade of pink while his sweet lover sighed happily in the middle of the kiss, and Frosch watched them in a carefree manner while Lector was shocked to see that they had hooked up. Lucy also looked surprised to see that Shelly and Rogue were now a couple, but Sting sighed a bit while he saw it coming from the time that Shelly would take Rogue out on jobs with her and not let Sting come along. After all, three people in a group could make the prospect of dates get a bit awkward.

Speaking of thoughts that Sting was having, the white dragon slayer widened his blue eyes a bit while he also remembered that the battle part for this day of the Grand Magic Games would have a little twist to it. The field would end up being changed in some way, since there was never any reason for Sting to doubt any news that Lector happened to overhear, and that could prove to be exciting. After all, the raging sea field that Juvia created for herself and Shelly to battle in was quite a nice touch. The organizers of the competition were clearly wanting to boost their ratings even more, despite the fact that altering the field wasn't necessary for everybody, and these matches could prove to be really exciting.

* * *

><p><strong>10 minutes later…<strong>

The battles of day three were now ready to begin, and everyone looked thrilled while anticipating what kinds of battles they would get to witness today. Lavana was looking quite ready to cause havoc in the Domus Flau, ready to get picked for a fight today, and the red-haired woman would truly feel bored from not getting to battle at any point in the five-day tournament. She would keep her flames under control, however, and Lavana smirked evilly while she began to be glad about how Shelly seemed so comfy with Rogue right now. That would make it much sweeter for Lavana, as soon as the timing was perfect for her to torment Shelly. Quite a sadistic woman, right?

Lavana had continued to maintain her smirk while the first battle put Skyla Hayato from Team Dark Almia up against Milliana from Team Mermaid Heel, and the green-haired woman started off the match with a spell known as Wind Demon's Little Bird. This move lived up to its name, making a little green bird be formed from the air, and it inhaled wind to grow larger. The bird flew out of Skyla's hands to soar high into the skies, and it exhaled five breaths of air to make five clones of itself appear. That was certainly a new technique for Lucy to try and learn, so she wondered about what the windy villain would end up doing next.

Skyla made her five birds simply fly down towards the ground at high speeds, using her Wind Demon Slayer Magic to let them ride down the currents of air, and they were able to attack Milliana from five directions while confounding her with their agility. Five large mint green blasts of energy transpired, occurring on the corners of a pentagon, and the large amount of air blew Milliana out of the Domus Flau. Skyla earned ten points for Team Dark Almia while Milliana earned nothing for her team, and many people in the crowd cheered about how anyone who was allied with the great Lavana was destined to be a terrifying force in battles.

The next battle put Cana Alberona from Team Fairy Tail A up against Chelia Blendy from Team Lamia Scale, and let's just say that the young girl with pink hair had gained an advantage because of how Skyla's demonic winds were still swirling around in the arena. Just like with how Shelly used Juvia's water to juice up her own moves, this concept could also be used in the way of someone using the magic or side effect from a demon slayer's attack to boost up their spells. As Chelia inhaled the air, she smiled happily while not even knowing that Skyla's power would give her quite a massive boost in strength.

The young sky god slayer simply used Sky God's Bellow, letting out massive streams of black air from her mouth, and this attack took the form of a large vortex because of Skyla's indirect assistance. It was strong enough to hit Cana at high speeds, not even letting her use a single card, and she screamed in pain from the wicked amount of power in that one spell. Chelia's attack also created a massive black blast of energy while Wendy looked amazed at how that move was so strong, and both girls curiously wondered if Skyla played a role in making that happen. After all, she had caused quite a lot of trouble in only one hour of the day. Chelia gained ten points for Team Lamia Scale, and Cana's team got nothing. Natsu's team was certainly faltering, right?

After those two girls left the field, which was now rocky like a mountainous area, the third match could now begin. Gray Fullbuster from Team Fairy Tail B was going to take on Yaeger from Team Quatro Cerberus, and the match began with Gray simply using his Ice-Make Magic to freeze his enemy in a block of ice. That ended up causing him to win the match, which made Juvia look really happy about the fact that she knew he would win with ease, and Team Fairy Tail B earned ten points while Team Quatro Cerberus still had nothing. Even though Gray was the star right now, some fan boys of Shelly still had the nerve to shout about how his ice could never be as dazzling as hers.

With that battle over, the final battle of the third day could now commence. It was obviously between Team Sabertooth and Team Blue Pegasus, since they were the last guilds left to fight. Sting knew that the time was finally here for him to have a great battle against whoever his opponent was, and the white dragon slayer smirked confidently with strength had made its way into his calm blue eyes. He let Lucy know that she had to give him a kiss if he managed to win against someone like Ichiya, but he looked shocked to see that the match-up gave him a pretty easy win. Would he get creative with the battle, though?

Sting jumped down from his team's booth to see that he would be fighting Jenny Realight, the blonde woman who was the guest judge on the first day of the Grand Magic Games, and she came down to the rocky arena as well. Just because she was full of cheap tricks, as well as being pretty, Jenny was also quite smart. Intelligence was required for any person to become a member of the Blue Pegasus guild, since almost everyone in the guild had very high IQs, and this woman was also quite cocky. She read all about Sting and Lucy in some issues of Sorcerer Magazine, since beating up demon slayers made them become famous, but was that really any reason to be arrogant?

As a gong was struck for the final battle of the third day to begin, Jenny used her Transformation Magic to change into her Battle Form outfit. This was the same outfit that she wore in her battle against Mirajane last year, since it had tons of durability, and Jenny was sure that not a single one of Sting's attacks would ever damage her. She even gave him a soft giggle as her way of taunting him, letting the white dragon slayer know that he could not win, but there was a such a thing called "thinking outside the box." Sting was able to do that, and he grinned slightly while coming up with a way to make his attacks pierce through her defenses.

Sting simply started off the match with a new spell known as White Dragon's Zaguruzemu, making Lucy and Jenny look curious about what that spell could possibly be, and this move allowed him to fire a white ball of light from his mouth. It struck Jenny directly, not even damaging her at all, and she laughed with overconfidence while the white blast of energy had faded around her. A white aura did begin to surround her body, though, and Sting hit her four more times with this spell. Not a single one of those hits had made a dent to her outfit, not even damaging it, and the blue-eyed woman was really wanting to simply make her opponent get tired out.

However, Jenny did not know that she was now the victim of a chain spell. The four demon slayers from Team Dark Almia found Sting's strategy to be quite clever, as chain power was meant to really be used on stronger foes, and Sting ended this match with his White Dragon's Roar. He fired a white laser beam of light from his mouth, watching it hit Jenny directly, and a massive blast of light filled the Domus Flau! When the attack struck Jenny, the chain power made it be five times more damaging than its normal level. Jenny could be heard screaming in pain from the attack, really not thinking that it would be much to handle, and some of the rocks on the field were also destroyed by the force of the blast.

When all of the smoke cleared up rather quickly, as this was the first time that Sting used chain power while not perfectly having control over it, the white dragon slayer could see that his female enemy fell to the ground with a shocked look on her face. Jenny's Take-Over also became undone, reverting her back to wearing that fabulous purple dress, and the outcome was quite clear. Sting won the match for Team Sabertooth, giving them ten more points, and Team Blue Pegasus got nothing. Natsu looked like he wanted to beat up Sting for acting so cool, but it wasn't the blond male's fault that he saw Lucy and the other demon slayers use chain spells like they were a demon slayer's favorite move to use. Dragon slayers could use them as well, and Sting just proved that.

As Lucy was looking forward to giving Sting a sweet kiss for how well he had done in that match, her focus shifted to Melinda Yuuma appearing from one of the chairs that were behind her in the booth. Melinda could use Darkness Demon Slayer Magic to create shadows for herself to warp through, which was pretty unique, and she seemed to be smiling at Shelly for some reason. It wasn't because of the fact that she was making out with Rogue right now, since she didn't find Sting's basic move to be more exciting because demon slayers used chain power on a regular basis, and Melinda simply left the booth quietly while trying not to arouse suspicion.

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><p><strong>Three hours later, around noon...<strong>

After the third day of the Grand Magic Games had ended, Lucy went out into the city of Crocus to get some good lunch to eat. Her stomach growled loudly, making the blonde girl blush a light shade of pink while she noticed that some people in the nearby shops giving her some puzzled looks, and Lucy really hoped to get some food soon. She was never really used to the idea of going out alone to eat at a restaurant, since she'd always be out with Sting or just take Lector to buy some fish while his friend would be busy trying to sign all of the autographs from his copious amount of fan girls. Really, Sting was quite a hot guy.

Lucy did not really prefer to dine alone, since that also made her dread the possibility of having to run into Natsu or his team while drama might occur in a public setting, and looking bad in Crocus would not be good for rep. Besides, she also knew that it was not legal for mages to fight outside of the arena. Lucy was not going to risk her team's chances at winning by having drama occur with her stupid ex, so she simply had to find a restaurant that Natsu's crew could not be in. Bar Sun was Fairy Tail's main hangout, since they would gather there at the bar in the previous year, and Lucy simply had to stay off of the bar street.

She was currently walking around on one of the cafe streets, the fancy area for all of the finest restaurants, but Lucy knew that none of these were like the high level of dining that could be found in the Sabertooth guild. As she was walking around while looking for a decent place to eat at, Lucy suddenly saw a shadowy puddle appear in front of her. Melinda jumped out of it while she went high into the air, a strange smirk now being on her face, and she made her purple fingernails become longer while quickly descending towards the ground. She seemed pretty ready to attack Lucy, making the blonde girl leap back, but this would not be a fight of any kind.

Melinda giggled a bit at how Lucy now looked kinda freaked out, as she was not thinking that another demon slayer would want anything to really do with her, and the brown-eyed girl was still seen as the newbie among all of her fellow demon-slaying sisters. Even though she could never consider Desertia or Heidi to be anything like family, Lucy saw Shelly and Melinda as people who could be trusted. She still wondered what Melinda would want with her, though, as the violet-eyed girl walked towards her while she looked over at a table where Lavana was sitting at. The self-proclaimed queen of the demon slayers was drinking some sugary tea while she sat at a black patio table that was outside of a cafe, but what was so weird about that?

As a brown-haired waitress in a black and white maid outfit came outside to put two more large cups of tea on the table, before setting down two white plates of the finest red velvet cake in Fiore, that was the cue for Melinda to grab Lucy's hand while walking over to the table with the kind girl. Three cups of tea on the table meant that Lavana was expecting her, even though she was sitting a few feet to the right of Lucy, and being in a meeting with Shelly's worst enemy could prove to be disastrous. Lucy hoped that this was not a meeting where she'd have to hear threats or plans of blackmail, since drama was not her thing to deal with, and Lavana seemed pretty intimidating.

"Lucy Heartfilia, it's quite a pleasure to finally get to chat with you. Allow me to introduce myself, please. I am the legendary Lavana Kasai, the Fire Demon Slayer who is very famous to every single guild in the kingdom, and I must say that I'm pleased to hear that you're in a great guild like Sabertooth. However, that is not why I told Melinda to bring you here. I've heard from some of my girls that they had a tough time with you, and getting Melinda to sacrifice that feckless Janine was a good move on my part. The weak will be weeded out, and I hope you tell Shelly to not get comfy with Rogue." Lavana told Lucy in a calm manner, keeping a straight face while using heat from her magic to heat up all three cups of tea.

The blonde girl asked in a confused manner, before switching to a tone of reasoning while she hoped that Rogue wouldn't be hurt, "What does Shelly have to do with the weak demon slayers being taken out? Didn't you see her match yesterday, Lavana-sama? That battle against Juvia showed the crowd that Shelly was a true demon slayer, probably being just as powerful as Juvia, and it was a pretty violent fight. Anyway, please don't mess with Rogue. Shelly really likes him, and there's no need to cause drama to their love. Making him cheat would be bad, so don't do it. I don't know why you even called me here, either, but I hope you won't make Shelly flip to your evil side."

Upon hearing what she had to say, Lavana could only begin to giggle with the feeling of being really amused. The beautiful woman with wavy red hair could really care less about Shelly being back on her side, as that matter would be brought up at a later time, and she simply gave a calm smile to Melinda while hoping that Lucy could take a shock from what she was about to hear. Even if she told Shelly, it still would not change the fact that neither of them could reach up to the level of Lavana. She was a demon slayer in a class of her own, far up from an S-Class Mage, and the Fire Demon Slayer was rumored to be a mage with eight stars of difficulty to her name.

Melinda talked to Lucy in a somewhat sexy tone of voice while she smirked evilly, really hoping that she could trust this young girl to not say anything, and Lucy was beyond shocked to hear the news from her friend's mouth. The unseen fifth member of Team Dark Almia was none other than Melinda, the girl who Shelly thought of as her best friend, and this was totally an act of betrayal. Lucy could not comprehend why Melinda would do such a thing, even though it explained how she made a living as a mage who worked under Lavana, and Lucy looked like she was puzzled to hear that Melinda was a member of Lavana's crew for such a long time. Apparently, she was also a good actress.

Lucy did not want to hear about whatever Lavana wanted Melinda to do, but the mistress of fire sternly told her that she would inevitably end up having to follow the orders of the demonic queen. Lavana spoke of how this would be the fate of all the demon slayers, as she was the one who was destined to reign above them all, but she was not planning to take over the world. She held a grudge against Shelly for trying to stop her from killing Rosalina, as stealing her magic was already quite a big crime, and Lavana simply wanted Shelly to see that the odds would soon be against her. Lucy angrily glared at Lavana, knowing that Shelly was no longer evil, and Melinda told her that Shelly will have no other choice than to become evil again at some point.

Shelly's past life of being evil was something that she did not really go into, since she did not want to remember those days, and Lavana let Lucy know that she was also a key player in this little game. The prospect of getting back at Natsu was something that she really wanted to do, as it would really show him that he was out of her love life, and Lavana's left hand rubbed Lucy's left cheek as the red-haired woman let her know that Shelly's desires were fueled by riches. Lucy's desires for love were fueled with some revenge, and Lavana was filled with devilish rage while Melinda's groovy nature was filled with dark trickery. As Lucy quickly drank the hot tea, really wanting to get away, Lavana arrogantly told her that the fourth day of the Grand Magic Games is where she'd be in a pretty hot situation with the flames of her will being put to the test...

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 20? Did you like it? Sorry for the long wait, and sorry if the battles weren't all that great. This chapter is more like a prelude to the next one, as that's where things could get crazy, and the next chapter will have more romance while the tag-team battles also occur! This is sure to be exciting, and even I'm excited! Will the theory finally come to light? If it's what you thought, were you correct? Standby for the update!<strong>


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